


AU Yeah August 2019

by SailorChibi



Series: Lovesquare Ficlet Collection 2019 [5]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soul Bond, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Cosplay, Established Relationship, F/M, Gen, Identity Reveal, LadyNoir - Freeform, Marichat, Miraculous Side Effects, Miraculous Tendencies, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Pre Relationship, Secret Identity Reveal, Sharing a Bed, cruise ship au, ladrien, lmao let’s be real I can’t make it a whole month without a reveal, more alternate universes will be tagged as the month continued, pre reveal, so many alternate universes, tags will change of course
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-07-28 17:49:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 21,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20068087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: 31 days of alternate universe ficlets featuring all sides of the lovesquare.





	1. Bed Sharing

**Author's Note:**

> I’m sure this surprises exactly no one, but yeah. Here we go again.

AU where Ladybug and Chat Noir can only go so long without being in physical contact.

* * *

Marinette woke up feeling hot and sticky. She squinted at the fuzzy ceiling for several seconds before her brain registered that Adrien was sprawled on top of her, nose buried in her collarbone. His hot breath wafted over her damp, sweaty skin and Marinette scowled.

“Kitty, get off. It’s too hot,” she whined, poking and prodding at him. The middle of summer in a heat wave was _not_ the time for cuddling.

Adrien grunted and, mostly asleep, rolled off of her and towards the wall. Marinette exhaled and made a face at how sweaty she was, but still rolled over onto her side and rested her forehead against his back.

They’d gotten in late last night after an akuma attack. She did some quick calculations in her mind. Her alarm hadn’t gone off yet, but the sunlight against her wall told her it was after seven. That meant about five hours of full body contact. Should be enough to get them through the morning, if not the day.

Sometimes Marinette wondered what would happen as she and Chat grew stronger. They were already one of the most powerful Ladybug and Black Cat teams there had ever been according to Plagg. That was because their bond - the bond between her and Adrien, and the bond with their kwami - was so strong. But the bond needed physical contact to sustain itself. If they went too long apart, both of them would feel pain and Tikki and Plagg would grow weak, which was a major problem during akuma attacks.

It was a circle. But what happened the circle got _too_ strong? Would she and Adrien have to be glued at the hip in the future? How would that even work?

“I can feel you overthinking,” Adrien mumbled, voice heavy with sleep.

Marinette blinked, so close that her lashes fluttered against his skin. “I’m not overthinking,” she objected. “I’m thinking _exactly_ the right amount.”

Adrien chuckled at that, reaching back to find her hand. He intertwined their fingers and lifted their hands to his mouth, where he gently kissed her knuckles. Marinette blushed just like she always did; she was glad he wasn’t looking at her and couldn’t see, because he surely would’ve teased her otherwise.

“We’ll be okay, Bugaboo,” he said, so confidently that Marinette couldn’t help but believe him.

“I know,” she said softly, a small smile on her lips. This wasn’t the ideal situation and they all knew it. Tikki had floated the idea of keeping their identities secret for all of three weeks until realizing that wasn’t going to cut it for this Ladybug and Chat Noir.

But they were making the best of it. Everyone at school thought they were dating. Marinette was content to let them think that, even if it wasn’t quite true yet. They sat side by side in class and spent every lunch wrapped up in each other’s arms. Adrien spent every night in her bed. Patrols often ended with them draped all over each other.

It worked. Especially because she knew Adrien not-so-secretly relished it. He didn’t get a lot of positive attention at home, and that meant next to no hugs. Marinette had made it her goal to lavish affection on her kitty.

“Do I have to go yet?” Adrien asked.

She sat up a bit to look over their slumbering kwami. “You’ve got about ten minutes.”

“Good enough.” He sighed and rolled over so that they were face to face, literally so close their noses touched.

“Hi,” Marinette whispered with a bigger smile. His beautiful green eyes were captivating.

Adrien smiled back. “Hi.”


	2. Convention

AU where Marinette has a serious love of cosplaying.

* * *

“Marinette, this is amazing! I love it!”

Marinette blushed to the roots of her wig. “Uh - um, th-thanks, Adrien!” she stammered.

She looked in the mirror at her own outfit and smiled. The blonde wig wasn’t the best quality because she’d had to buy it online with what little money she’d had left over, but the rest of her outfit was pretty damn good if she did say so herself.

When she’d first thought of cosplaying as Princess Zelda for the upcoming convention, she’d made the mistake of telling Alya. Alya had literally turned right around and loudly suggested that Adrien be Maronette’s Link. Much to Marinette’s joy (and equal parts horror), Adrien had enthusiastically agreed.

“It fits perfectly,” Adrien went on. He’d gone downstairs to change. “Can I come up now?”

“Sure,” Marinette said, smoothing her tunic down. She _hoped_ Adrien’s costume fit perfectly, considering she’d had his measurements memorized for months, but this was their dress rehearsal to make sure. She had five days to fix any problems.

Adrien clambered up the ladder and stood there, beaming. “Well? What do you think?”

“It looks great,” Marinette said absently, her attention captured by the way a seam wasn’t sitting quite right. She grabbed a couple of pins and approached him.

“I love it. It just looks _so_ authentic,” Adrien gushed. “I haven’t seen any other cosplay of them look this awesome. You’re so talented!”

Marinette blushed again at the praise. “Thanks,” she squeaked, embarrassed.

Because up close, Adrien was even more handsome. He was lucky in that his hair was the same shade of golden blond as Link’s, meaning he didn’t need to wear a wig. Normally he had it gelled back but right now several messy strands hung in his face, like he’d been dragging his hands through it. It was a strangely familiar look.

She tried to ignore the thought, instead focusing on the seam and using the pins to move it up by half an inch. It had to be just a coincidence.

“I guess this makes me your knight in shining armor, _Purrrr_-incess!” he quipped.

Marinette froze.

Adrien froze too.

There was a moment of long silence during which they just stared at each other. Adrien’s expression grew increasingly panicked, his mouth opening and closing, but it was like he couldn’t bring himself to actually speak. Marinette wasn’t thinking about speaking at all; her brain was filled with internal screaming.

And then Tikki burst out of her hiding space and declared, “Ha! Your kitten messed up first! You owe me five macarons, Plagg!”

Adrien looked like someone had slapped him across the face with the foam sword strapped to his back.

“Not fair!” Plagg whined, zipping out of Adrien’s tunic.

Marinette promptly stabbed herself with a pin.

“What do you mean, not fair?!” Tikki demanded.

“Your bug made this situation happen! We said no outside influences!” Plagg said.

“That is so not the same thing!”

“It is too!”

“… what just happened?” Adrien whispered to himself.

“Obviously I’m dreaming,” Marinette said, ignoring the fact that her finger very much hurt.

“Dreaming,” Adrien said faintly.

“Dreaming,” Marinette said with a firm nod, and, ignoring their squabbling kwami and her shell shocked partner, went to go outwardly scream into her Chat Noir pillow.


	3. Cruise Ship

AU: same premise as the show, but aged-up characters who live/work on a cruise shop.

* * *

Marinette had just put her plate down on the table when the screaming started.

“An akuma!” Alya whooped and leaped to her feet, bolting towards the door along with half the other people in the restaurant. Nino popped a fry in his mouth, chewed, sighed, and stood up to meander out the door with the remainder of the crowd.

In minutes, Marinette was alone.

“I’ll never understand what makes people want to come on this cruise,” Marinette said out loud, shaking her head. When Hawkmoth first appeared on board the _Émilie_, everyone had been convinced that was the end of Agreste Cruises biggest and most luxurious cruise ship.

Instead, if anything the _Émilie_ had become even_ more _popular, with hoardes of people vying to get a place on the ship in the hopes of seeing Hawkmoth in action. And he never failed to disappoint; an akuma appeared at least two or three times a week.

“Now’s not the time, Marinette! You have to transform!” TIkki said, popping out of Marinette’s purse.

“Right. Tikki, spots on!”

Ladybug got up, regretfully leaving her plate of food behind, and ran out the door. Instead of following the screaming, she turned in the opposite direction and burst into the stairwell. Winding back her arm, she threw her yoyo straight up. It wrapped around a railing several stories up. With a quick flick of her wrist, the string began to rapel and dragged her up with it.

She kicked the door open and froze as a bunch of shrieking passengers ran by with the akuma in hot pursuit. Chat Noir lurched to a stop when he saw her, breathing heavily. But he still managed a smile.

“Bonsoir, My Lady!” he said.

“Hi Kitty,” Ladybug said, stepping out into the hall. She greeted him with a quick kiss. “What’s the story today?”

“Angry kid,” Chat said. “Got mad his sister dunked him in the wave pool.”

Ladybug sighed. Chat worked for the ship, she knew, just like she did. They’d figured out Hawkmoth had to be an employee too, because they’d compared the _Émilie‘s_ list of passengers over several weeks. There were no repeating names, but Hawkmoth had to be on the ship. Ergo, employee. But they were still no closer to finding him.

“Okay,” she said, dangling her yoyo from her fingers. “I’ve got fifty-two minutes left on my lunch break and I haven’t eaten yet. Let’s do this fast.”

Chat saluted. “Lead the way, Bugaboo!”


	4. Immortal

AU: Plagg and Tikki both have a ‘perfect match’ and those partners will have the same lifespan as their kwami.

* * *

Marinette wrapped her cold hands around her mug and slowly slipped from it. With a thick blanket around her shoulders, and her favorite winter pajamas underneath, she shouldn’t have been cold. But she was.

A light thump alerted her to the fact that she wasn’t alone. Marinette turned her head to see Chat crouched on the railing. He didn’t smile, didn’t greet her happily, didn’t even look at her. His kitty ears and tail both drooped, and his shoulders were slumped.

“Hi,” Marinette said softly.

“_Bonsoir_,” Chat said, equally quiet. “Sorry to intrude.”

“You’re not intruding.” Marinette stood up and stepped closer to him under the guise of leaning against the railing.

“You’re too kind, as always,” Chat said, but he still didn’t look at her and he still didn’t smile and it was just too much.

“What’s wrong?” Marinette asked, deciding it was best to be blunt. She could ask that now, right? She’d never expected for her civilian self to become friends with Chat, yet somehow it had happened anyway.

And besides, she thought she already knew what was wrong. Chat had confirmed during their last patrol that he’d had the same conversation with Plagg that she’d had with Tikki. They hadn’t had time to talk about it yet, though.

“What would you do if you found out you were going to live forever?” Chat asked, confirming her suspicions.

Marinette closed her eyes and sighed. “I don’t know,” she admitted. On the one hand, it was exciting, touching and exhilarating to know that she was Tikki’s perfect match. There would never be another Ladybug; she and Tikki would literally be together forever. As soon as Marinette hit her peak, something Tikki estimated would happen in Marinette’s early twenties, that was it. She would stop aging. She’d be immortal.

On the other hand, it was absolutely terrifying to think she’d out-live everyone she loved. Her parents and grand-parents, Alya, Nino, _Adrien_… how could she hope to have a future with him now? How could she ever have kids with him, knowing what she now knew? How could she do _anything_?

At some point Chat was going to be all she had. It would just be the two of them and their kwami… _forever_. The realization made Marinette feel even colder. Her hands shook as she sipped again at her tea.

“I don’t know either,” Chat whispered.

“Why the sudden question?” Marinette asked, turning to look at him.

Chat shook his head. “Just wondering,” he said, because of course he couldn’t share all of his woes with a civilian. She wasn’t even supposed to know about kwami, much less the concept of a perfect match.

“Well,” Marinette said slowly, “it sounds like that knowledge would be pretty hard to come to terms with. I think… I think I’d have to make myself focus on each day instead of dwelling on the future.”

“But _how_ do I do that?” Chat asked. He turned to look at her for the first time, and she ached when she saw the fear in his eyes. The uncertainty. The apprehension. The worry. All emotions mirrored inside her own heart right now.

“Maybe Ladybug would know,” Marinette suggested, holding her mug out to him. As much as she wanted to help him, she knew it wasn’t Marinette’s place. This was something only Ladybug and Chat Noir would understand.

Though at the same time, as Chat reached out to take the mug and their fingers brushed, she suddenly realized that the time for their identities to be revealed had suddenly drawn _much_ closer. Tikki and Plagg couldn’t expect them to deal with this revelation separately on their own. That way lay madness. This barrier between them had to come down for them to cope.

She exhaled a frosty breath and gave him a tentative smile. “Perhaps… you should ask her.”

“Yeah,” Chat said, an odd look on his face. “You’re probably right. Thanks.” He sipped from the mug.

Marinette leaned against him and dared to rest her head on his shoulder, clutching her blanket around her own shoulders. It occurred to her that this was probably the first of many nights she and Chat would eventually spend together.

The thought finally sparked a bit of warmth in her chest.

They stood there until Chat finished the tea and handed it back with a whispered, “Thanks.”

Then Marinette, glancing at her phone and noting the time, said, “You should go home and try to sleep. It’s almost 1am.”

“I won’t sleep. My room is too empty,” Chat said. He stretched, lifting his arms over his head. “I’m just gonna keep patrolling.”

She frowned at that. He looked tired. “You can sleep on my chaise,” she said impulsively. “It’s pretty comfortable.”

His eyes widened. “Seriously?”

“Of course. Come on.” Marinette moved over to her window. Her offer wasn’t purely altruistic; she’d sleep better herself knowing where Chat was tonight.

After a moment of hesitation, he followed her in. He’d been in her room before, but this time he didn’t look around with his usual curiosity. He sat on the chaise and she gave him the blanket she’d had wrapped around her shoulders and her Ladybug doll, the blanket still warm with her body heat. He immediately burrowed into the blanket, Ladybug doll held close. Like any cat, Chat loved heated clothing.

Marinette shut the lights off and went up the ladder to her bed. She got comfortable, clutching her Chat Noir doll to her chest, and rolled over to look. All she could see of him now was a few tufts of blond hair sticking out of a blanket burrito, but she could hear him breathing so that was okay.

It would have to be okay.


	5. Masquerade

AU: Chat Noir is working with Hawkmoth against Ladybug, and has been since the beginning.

* * *

Her window was open.

Ladybug landed lightly on the balcony, all senses on high alert. She always closed her window before she left, and she knew she hadn’t forgotten: she was too worried one of her parents would step outside for some air and see it open. If they investigated her room too closely and saw her gone, it would be a disaster.

Cautiously, she moved to her window and peered inside. Nothing looked out of place in her room, but the hair on the back of her neck prickled with unease. She slithered inside, one hand on her yoyo, and came to a rest on her bed - and that’s when she saw him.

The notorious Chat Noir was sitting on her chaise, head in his hands. He jumped up as soon as he saw her, and Ladybug grabbed her yoyo. Her heart was racing. How had he found her? What was he planning to do? Where were her parents?

“Wait!” Chat yelped, throwing his hands up. “I come in peace!”

“In peace?” Ladybug said, deeply skeptical.

“Yes. I’m not here to fight you, or to hurt anyone. I swear.”

Ladybug narrowed her eyes. “I don’t believe you. We’re enemies.”

Chat gulped. “I-I know.”

“How did you even find me?” Ladybug demanded, leaping down from her bed. She loosely spun her yoyo, wondering how she could get him out of here with anyone noticing.

“I followed you,” he admitted.

“So Hawkmoth knows who I am?” Ladybug said, horrified.

“No! No, I would never tell him,” Chat said. “You have to believe me.”

“_Believe _you? Believe _what_? That you’ve been pretending all this time and suddenly you decide to give up this masquerade?!” Ladybug said, throwing up her hands.

“I know. It’s crazy. I don’t expect you to… but it’s just that… What he wants… He - I - he wants - I wanted -” Chat stammered, hands flailing. “He wants - and to get it - I _can’t_ -”

Suddenly, he gave a great sob and crumbled to the floor. Ladybug stared in amazement as green light surrounded him. Black leather slowly melted away into cotton, leaving a teenaged boy crying hysterically. A small, black cat kwami - Plagg, she remembered Tikki calling him - settled on the boy’s head and gently stroked his hair.

“He’s not evil,” Plagg said, staring her down. “Hawkmoth is his father, trying to bring back his mother.”

Ladybug’s knees felt weak. “What?”

“Tonight, we learned what that sacrifice would be,” Plagg went on. “He wants to offer you up in exchange.”

It wasn’t a surprise exactly, yet the information still rocked Ladybug to her core. She shuddered and looked at the boy. As always, she was irrevocably drawn to him. It was what made fighting Chat Noir so hard: as much as she wanted to punch him in the face, she also wanted to throw herself into his arms. Tikki said it was because of their unfulfilled bond, and that she would _always _feel a pull to the black cat because of it.

They were, after all, two halves of a whole.

“Why should I believe you?” Ladbyug asked shakily.

Plagg shrugged. “Why else would we be here?”

It could’ve been a trap, but Ladybug didn’t think so. Uncertainly, she set her yoyo back on her hip and drew closer. She knelt in front of the boy and reached out a hand, then hesitated.

“His name is Adrien,” Plagg said.

“Adrien,” Ladybug repeated softly, and Adrien looked up at her. His face was a mess of tears and snot. Her heart lurched in her chest.

“I’m _so _sorry,” Adrien whispered miserably.

Ladybug swallowed and gently, carefully, cupped his cheek. “I know.”


	6. Blind Date

AU where Adrien never went to school and so he and Marinette don’t know each other.

* * *

The girl beneath the mask, when Ladybug hesitantly detransformed, was every bit as pretty as Adrien had imagined. He felt his heart skip a beat when she gave him a shy smile and told him her name.

Marinette. It was beautiful. _She_ was beautiful.

“Wanna go grab a coffee?” Adrien asked a bit breathlessly. He’d envisioned this moment several times over, but he was still finding that he wasn’t wholly ready for it yet. He needed a moment to get his bearings.

“Sure,” Marinette said. She hesitated a moment, then held her hand out.

Adrien took it gladly, intertwining their fingers. And suddenly it wasn’t as weird as it had been; how many times had he and Ladybug walked around the streets of Paris after midnight exactly like this? His body _knew_ the feel of her hand, even if he was used to her skin being covered by her uniform.

They walked hand-in-hand to a popular café. Adrien paid for their drinks since it was his turn. Marinette looked like she wanted to argue until he pointed that out to her, and then she subsided with a sulky pout that Adrien immediately wanted to kiss off her face.

He refrained. He wasn’t sure they were ready for that just yet as Adrien and Marinette.

They found a table and sat and began filling in all the tiny blanks and bits of detail they’d never been able to tell each other before. Adrien lost himself in the blue of her eyes, and so didn’t even notice Nino approaching until a hand fell on his shoulder.

“Well,” Nino said in great tones of smugness, “looks like your blind date is going well. I _told_ you you’d like her.”

“Blind date?” Adrien repeated, baffled. And then he suddenly remembered. Oh.

_Oh_.

That’s right. Nino had scheduled a blind date for Adrien this morning, hadn’t he? Adrien hadn’t wanted to go. He was very happy with Ladybug, and had even entertained thoughts of proposing to her soon. But he couldn’t exactly tell his friends and family about a mysterious girlfriend they couldn’t meet. So they all thought he was still single… which lead to a lot of set-ups.

Adrien had forgotten all about this particular blind date. After Master Fu had given permission for him and Ladybug to _finally_ reveal themselves, that had consumed Adrien’s every thought.

“Wait. _Adrien_ is the guy you set me up with?” Marinette said, looking up at Alya. Adrien had only met Alya a couple times. Every time, Alya had talked up her _amazing_ best friend and insisted Adrien would love her.

Well, it turned out that Alya wasn’t wrong.

“Marinette is the girl you set me up with?” Adrien echoed, looking at Nino.

“Obviously, since you guys are on the date right now,” Alya said.

Marinette looked at Adrien, and Adrien looked at Marinette, and simultaneously they both broke out into laughter.

“Okay, what is going on?” Alya demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

“Nothing,” Adrien said, grinning. Then he lifted Marinette’s hand and kissed her knuckles. Alya’s eyes bugged out and Nino sputtered.

Marinette’s smile softened into that same affectionate smile that Ladybug wore when Chat was being especially dorky , which never failed to make Adrien’s heart flutter. He smiled back at her, utterly besotted.

“It turns out that this date might not have been quite as blind as you thought,” Marinette said, still smiling at Adrien.

“Wait, what?” Nino said, looking baffled.

Adrien pushed out a chair. “Have a seat and let us tell you about how we really met on the internet.” He winked at Marinette, grateful they had already worked out a cover story in preparation for introducing their family and friends to each other, and she grinned back.


	7. Arranged Marriage

AU where the miraculous are handed down through families… with a twist.

* * *

Though Marinette grew up hearing the stories about the miraculous, she never imagined that the day would come when she would be standing in front of her grandmother with both her parents at her back. Her grandmother carefully took a small ring box out of her satchel and presented it to Marinette.

“This is the Black Cat miraculous. It contains the power of destruction,” her grandmother said in flawless Chinese. “You must use it, Marinette, to stop Hawkmoth and protect Paris.”

“Are you sure this is necessary? Can’t I do it?” Sabine said, her grip tightening on Marinette’s shoulder to the point of pain.

Her grandmother pinned Sabine with a steely look. “You have married outside the miraculous. You forfeited your right to the Black Cat miraculous the day that happened. The Ladybug family demands we follow the old rules. It is their right to do so.”

Marinette stared at the ring box, her stomach twisting uncomfortably. “So… once I put this on… I’m bound to marry the Ladybug?”

“Yes. It is on your honor, Marinette. This is not something to take lightly.” Her grandmother’s eyes bored into her. “You must keep your identity a secret until you turn eighteen, when you will be married.”

Eighteen was only three years away. She didn’t know anything about the family that owned the Ladybug miraculous, only that they also lived in Paris and had a son her age who would take up the Ladybug. For unknown reasons, the patriarch had demanded that the old rule about an arranged marriage between the Ladybug and the Black Cat be observed.

“You don’t have to do this,” Tom whispered in Marinette’s ear. “You can say no.”

Her grandmother sniffed and nodded. “You may. I will choose one of your cousins in your stead.” Yet her tone and expression made it clear what she would think of that.

“No,” Marinette said. She held a hand out. The ring box was laid in her palm, and she opened it to reveal a delicate silver ring. Marinette took the ring out and, with one last, deep breath, slid it onto her finger.

The ring flashed green, and then something small and black appeared. Marinette’s mouth fell open as the a tiny, black cat kwami stretched and blinked bright green eyes at her.

“My lord,” her grandmother intoned, bowing.

“Yeah, hey,” the kwami said dismissively. “You’re my new holder?”

“Yes,” Marinette whispered.

“Huh.” He flew around her in a slow circle. “My name’s Plagg.”

“I’m… Marinette.” Marinette offered her index finger, which Plagg shook. He narrowed his eyes at the first moment they touched… and then he _smiled_.

“Oh,” he said, “I_ like_ you, Marinette. We’re going to cause a lot of mayhem together.”


	8. Podcast

AU where Alya decided to add a podcast interviewing previous Hawkmoth’s victims to the Ladyblog.

* * *

“You know what I realized?”

Adrien couldn’t help glancing back at the two girls sitting behind him. Marinette was slumped over, face buried in her arms; she grunted at Alya’s question, but otherwise didn’t move. Alya looked undeterred by the lack of enthusiasm.

“I was going through a list of people I can interview for my podcast, and you’re not on it,” she said.

That _definitely_ caused Marinette’s head to pop up. A look of sheer panic crossed her face. “What?! So? Why _would_ you interview me?!”

“I wouldn’t because you’ve never been akumatized,” Alya said. “How is that?”

Adrien watched Marinette slump in relief and smiled to himself. Being the best friend of the Ladyblogger was a daring move when you were Ladybug, and it was moments like this when he thought that Marinette might regret that choice just a little bit.

“Uh… just lucky, I guess,” Marinette said, forcing a smile.

Alya narrowed her eyes. “Literally everyone else in our class has been akumatized… except for _you_.” She turned to Adrien. “But you’re a cinnamon roll, so that’s to be expected.”

“Are you saying I’m not a cinnamon roll?” Marinette said.

“After the curse words you let out this morning when you fell down the stairs, I’d have to say no,” Alya said.

Marinette frowned. “I was surprised! And it hurt!”

“Are you okay?” Adrien asked immediately.

She smiled at him. “I’m fine.”

“The point is,” Alya said loudly, “is that something about this seems weird. Marinette, sometimes with the way you spiral you should be a golden target to Hawkmoth.”

“Maybe Marinette has just never experienced a negative emotion at the right time,” Adrien said calmly. Normally he was more than willing to let Marinette handle her own battles, but he thought that she could use a bit of help with this one.

“Maybe. It’s just _weird_ though. Hawkmoth has a thing about our class.” Alya frowned and tapped her chin with her finger.

“Statistically, it’s unlikely that everyone in our class would be akumatized,” Adrien replied confidently. It didn’t matter whether it was true or not; what mattered was making Alya believe it and getting her to drop this line of questioning before she _really_started to put two and two together

“Or maybe Marinette has a secret she’s not sharing,” Alya said, narrowing her eyes.

Marinette almost choked.

“You’re right,” Adrien said. “She does.”

“She _does_?” Alya echoed, eyes wide.

“I _do_?” Marinette said, horrified.

“Yes. It’s me. I’m her secret.” Adrien reached over and took Marinette’s hand, intertwining their fingers. “I spread my sunshine to those I love the most so that they’ll be safe from Hawkmoth.”

Alya stared at him for a long time. Finally, she said, “That was disgustingly cheesy, even for you.”

“Thank you,” Adrien said cheerfully.

“Ugh. Spending time with you two is like living in a romance novel,” Alya muttered. But it did the trick. She turned back to her phone.

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief and mouthed a ‘thank you’ at Adrien. He winked back, squeezed her hand, and then regrettably let go to turn back around - where he breathed a sigh of relief his own.

Sometimes Alya just got a little _too_ close for comfort.


	9. Restaurant

AU where using the miraculous burns a ridiculous amount of calories.

* * *

Chat’s stomach growled hungrily as he landed in the alley, and he inhaled deeply. The delicious scent of hamburgers and fries flooded his twitching nose. It felt like it had been _ages_ since his last meal.

The back door of the restaurant swung open, and the head chef stuck her head out. “_Bonsoir_ Chat Noir! You’re right on time. I have it all ready for you.”

“Thanks,” Chat said shyly, accepting the bag.

She waved a hand. “No thanks necessary. Feeding Paris’s superheroes is the least I can do. _Bon appetit_!”

Chat saluted her and grabbed his baton. He propelled himself upwards, bag clutched safely to his chest, and dropped gracefully to the rooftop above where Ladybug was waiting for him. She licked her lips when she saw the bag.

Neither of them liked accepting free meals. It felt a lot like they were accepting bribes, or that they were blackmailing or extorting people into helping them. A few of the more nasty journalists had written articles deliberately painting them that way.

But that wasn’t the case at all. Using a miraculous consumed _way_ too many calories for the average diet. Chat was hungry literally _all_ the time, and he knew Ladybug was the same way. There was no way either of them could eat enough in their civilian lives without attracting too much attention, especially Chat. What he ate as Adrien was too closely monitored.

On top of that, Ladybug didn’t have the money to pay for the copious amounts of food they needed. And while Chat did, Nathalie would notice if he started spending all his money on food.

So their only option was relying on the kindness of the people of Paris. Fortunately, both of them had proven very lucky thus far. Plenty of restaurants were willing to give them free food.

“Oh my god that smells good,” Ladybug breathed, grabbing the bag. She tore into it and yanked out a wrapped burger. She unwrapped it and shoved half the burger into her mouth.

Chat nodded, tearing into his own burger. He took a huge bite, making a face when he realized it had onions. But he was too hungry to care. He polished it off in four large bites before quickly unwrapping a second burger.

They made quick work of the ten burgers between them, and then shared the five packs of fries. Ladybug burped loudly and sighed, laying back and patting her slightly rounded tummy.

“It’s so hard to make it through a day sometimes,” she said mournfully. “I forgot my lunch today and I didn’t have time to run home. I thought my stomach was going to eat itself.”

“Here,” Chat said, pushing the last container of fries closer. He knew how she felt. Sometimes photo shoots ran too long, to the point where he would feel faint from hunger.

“Thanks,” she said with a small smile. “Where should we go tomorrow night?”

Chat licked his fingers. “Pizza?”

“I could go for pizza,” Ladybug said with a nod. She polished off the fries.

Someday Chat hoped they’d have jobs and made enough money to buy their own food. Maybe they could live together and pool their resources. Then they wouldn’t have to depend on the offerings of people who took pity on them.

Until then, he was just grateful that they didn’t have to starve. They’d be easy pickings for Hawkmoth then, as neither of them would be strong enough to use their magic.

He laid back next to her and closed his eyes. Ladybug shifted around and then rested her head on his shoulder.

“Your breath smells like onions,” she remarked.

Chat just smiled without opening his eyes. “I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m really not.”


	10. Fairy Tale

AU where the whole ‘Adrien is a Disney Princess’ thing is as prevalent in canon as it was in fanon.

* * *

“Do _not_ laugh,” Adrien growled.

Ladybug finished climbing through the window. She pinched her mouth together as she slowly looked around the room, taking in the gaudy pink and white unicorn-themed decorations, the sweeping canopy bed, the rows and rows of beautiful gowns and - most damning of all - the gold tiara prominently displayed by the door.

“I’m not going to laugh,” Ladybug said, sounding a little strained, and Adrien’s glare deepened. She may not know it, but he knew her well enough to know when she was desperately trying not to giggle.

Normally he would’ve been over the moon to get rescued by Ladybug. But this was just embarrassing. One of his fans had bought a little too deeply into the whole ‘Adrien Agreste is a Disney Princess’ meme that was going around. When she got akumatized into a fairy tale akuma, her first order of business had been to shut him up in a literal tower that was surrounded by a moat, guards and a forest of thorny vines.

“How did you get here?” Adrien asked gloomily. He’d thought of transforming, of course, but the akuma kept coming back to check on him. He was also pretty sure, though he couldn’t be 100% sure, that he was being watched.

Ladybug cleared her throat. “I had to get help. Carapace, Rena Rouge and Queen Bee are below. I’m not sure where Chat Noir is,” she added fretfully, moving over to the window. “It’s weird. He seems to disappear every time you’re in danger.”

_Shit_. Adrien’s heart thumped with panic even as he schooled his face and said quickly, “I’m - I’m sure that’s not true. Maybe he got caught by the akuma as a civilian and turned into a guard?”

“Oh no,” Ladybug whispered to herself, visibly dismayed by the idea, and suddenly Adrien wished she _had_ laughed after all. He would give anything to wipe that sad, worried look off her face, but he couldn’t tell her that her partner was standing two feet away. It was maddeningly frustrating.

“The best way to save him is to purify the akuma, right?” Adrien asked gently. If he couldn’t make her happy, he could at least redirect her to pummeling the akuma and purifying it as fast as possible. Especially since now it would look too suspicious if Chat Noir could suddenly show up after Adrien was rescued.

“Yeah, it is,” Ladybug said with a nod, but the thought didn’t seem to cheer her at all.

Adrien cast about desperately for something to help, and finally pointed to the one thing he knew Ladybug hadn’t noticed yet. She followed his finger and her eyes went wide.

“Is that -”

“High heels,” Adrien confirmed grimly. “I’d rather get out of here before the akuma decides I need to wear a set of four-inch heels.”

Ladybug’s mouth twitched and then she gave a quiet giggle. Adrien’s heart melted and he stared at her with a goofy smile. She smiled back, her cheeks turning pink, and it was such a beautiful smile that Adrien found himself blushing too.

“I can’t blame you for that,” Ladybug said finally. “Heels aren’t exactly the thing to wear when you’re trying to escape a tower. Come here.”

She extended an arm to him and Adrien gratefully moved closer, trying to ignore how closely their bodies pressed together when she wrapped her arm around his waist. It was no different than when he was transformed, he told himself, even though it sure _felt_ like it was.

“Do you think you could keep the whole princess room to yourself?” Adrien asked as she wound up her yo-yo with her free hand.

Ladybug grinned. “I guess I could do that,” she said slyly. “But you should know Alya’s got footage of you in the window of the tower, and the Rapunzel memes are already flying.”

“… Damnit.”


	11. Bodyswap

Chat closed his eyes and breathed in, then slowly breathed out. Then he opened his eyes again to look at Ladybug. It was disorienting to _know_ that he was looking at his lady, yet see his own face and body staring back at him. Ladybug looked equally out of sorts, especially when both their miraculous beeped again.

“Okay, this is what we’re going to do. Shut your eyes,” she said, pointing a claw in his face. “Don’t look, understand? We’ll feed Plagg and Tikki and then transform, and then we’re going to find that akuma so I - so_ you_ can purify it and we’ll get back to our own bodies, and then we’re going to go _murder Hawkmoth_.” 

“I am totally on board with that plan,” Chat said. Being in Ladybug’s body was _weird_. She was so much smaller and shorter than he was. He felt too light, and every step made him feel off-balance. His whole center of gravity was off. He didn’t even know if he could fight like this.

There came another beep, followed by flash of green and red light. He glimpsed Ladybug shutting her eyes and quickly did the same. Experimentally, he touched the clothing he was now wearing and felt a cotton shirt and denim jeans. Not very helpful.

Adrien wished, just for a moment, that he could open his eyes and see what Ladybug was wearing. But that would be an unforgivable breach of trust; he couldn’t do that to her. 

“There are cookies in my - your purse,” Ladybug said, sighing.

“Cheese is in your right pocket,” Adrien replied, realizing that the odd weight at his hip was indeed a purse. He snapped it open and something brushed against his hand; he realized, as the sound of crunching filled the air, that it was Tikki.

“Oh my god. This is _perfect_,” Plagg said, cackling.

“Plagg, be nice,” Tikki said, but she sounded amused too.

“Both of you shut up and _eat_,” Ladybug hissed. It was downright strange to hear his own voice filled with so much anger, but Adrien supposed that Ladybug had a right to be pissed off.

He groped around until he found a wall to lean against, then slid slowly to the ground and sat with his knees against his chest - trying his best to ignore the, erm, _objects_ in the way. Ladybug sat beside him and they quietly listened to the sound of their kwamis eating cheese and cookies. 

Then, in near perfect synchronization, two cell phones rang.

“Oh my god,” Adrien said, heart sinking. He had no idea what time it was, but it had to be late. He and Ladybug had been fighting that akuma for at least three hours. That meant it had to be Nathalie or worse, his father on the phone. If he didn’t answer, he could kiss any free time for the next month or more goodbye.

“Ignore them,” Ladybug ordered, voice laced with panic.

“I can’t! I’ll get in so much trouble -”

She spoke over him. “Chat, we can’t answer them. Our identities -”

“I don’t care if you find out who I am,” Adrien interrupted, keeping his eyes shut but turning his head towards her. “_Please_, My Lady, if you’ve ever cared about me, you’ll answer the phone and make up an excuse. Tell them my fencing practice ran late.”

His phone rang again for a fourth time, and Adrien’s heart sank. He was going to be so fucked. His father was going to be so mad -

“Hello?” Ladybug said into the phone. At the same time, a hand touched Adrien’s waist. He nearly jumped out of his skin until he realized it was just Ladybug, digging around for her cell phone while she talked. She dumped it into his hands.

Still, he hesitated.

“Answer it,” she hissed at him as it rang again.

Adrien swallowed but opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was light pink jeans, and then his eyes focused on the phone in his hands. His heart started thudding furiously as he saw the picture on the screen of Ladybug’s cell phone. It was Sabine Cheng, and her number had been saved the under the title ‘Maman’.


	12. Teachers

The only time Adrien regretted having quit his job at his father’s company and decided to teach instead was at moments like this.

All over his classroom, phones were lighting up. His own phone was going off too, playing the alarm that meant an akuma alert had popped up. Somewhere in Paris, an akuma was wreaking havoc. He looked at the classroom full of students in front of him. 

The temptation to just run out was strong. That’s what he would’ve done had he still worked for Gabriel. At least there, his position as the boss’s son would’ve kept him from getting fired. Might’ve gotten him in hot water with his father, but that was nothing new. 

Unfortunately, here that would get him in even more trouble. The chair of his department had already had a serious conversation with him about how students paid a lot of money to attend classes, and that cutting classes short to go see akumas was not okay. 

Sometimes Adrien missed the carefree days of being a _collége_ student and Madame Bustier would just look the other way.

“Alright, everyone, pay attention,” Adrien said, sneaking a glance at the clock. Ten minutes. He could do ten minutes. It was Wednesday, which meant Ladybug was working half days - he didn’t know what she did for a living, and vice versa, but they’d memorized each other’s work schedules. Hopefully she could make it to the akuma first.

“Aren’t you going to go look for the akuma?” one of his students asked.

“No. I’m going to teach the rest of my lesson. And this will be on the midterm, so I suggest you put your phones down and look alive,” Adrien said sternly. _That_ got their attention.

The next ten minutes dragged by. Adrien wrapped things up as quickly as he could and released the class four minutes early, which he thought was pretty damn good considering that he had colleagues who only taught for like half an hour out of an hour-long block.

“Okay, class. Read pages 51-75 for Friday and make sure you do the equations on page 72,” Adrien said.

It was a relief when all of the students filed out; sometimes people lingered, wanting to ask him questions or go over the homework, and he just didn’t have the time today. He grabbed his backpack and hustled out of the room, heading for the library. He’d discovered a little nook in the back when he first started teaching; it was just big enough for his backpack, and there was a small window above it just large enough for Chat Noir to squeeze out.

“You’re cutting it closer and closer,” Plagg said from his front pocket.

“Shh, Plagg. I know, okay? But what else can I do? I can’t just _not_ work,” Adrien hissed back. He had money in a trust fund, but it wouldn’t last forever.

Besides, Ladybug had the same problem. What kind of job would allow repeated, unexplained, random absences? Short of he and Ladybug going into business together and working for themselves, they had to make the best of a bad situation.

He rushed into the library and headed towards the back. Plagg popped out as soon as they were alone and looked at him seriously.

“This isn’t working, Adrien. You and Ladybug need to figure something else out. Someday, the delays are going to cause damage that Ladybug can’t fix.”

Adrien swallowed, guilt and frustration a heavy weight in his chest, and punched the air in lieu of responding. “Plagg, claws out!”


	13. Horror

“What. The. Hell. Is. That.”

“Uh… I think it’s an akuma.” Chat leaned forward, squinting dramatically, and nodded. “Yes, my dear lady, it is in fact an akuma.”

Ladybug didn’t say anything. She also didn’t move.

“Uh… Ladybug?” Rena asked cautiously.

“That’s _not_ an akuma,” Ladybug said finally.

Chat and Rena exchanged a series of looks and motions that was best translated as the following:

What the hell does that mean?

I have no idea, but she looks mad.

Well, ask her!

_I’m_ not asking. _You_ ask!

No way.

Wuss!

Why you little…

Oblivious to the pantomiming and increasingly exaggerated looks being exchanged behind her, Ladybug took a step forward. Her face was filled with horror. She pointed at the thing in the distance.

“_That_ is a _crime against fashion_!”

“Oh,” said Chat, frozen halfway through tugging Rena’s ponytail.

“Huh,” said Rena, guiltily letting go of Chat’s left kitty ear.

“What is wrong with Hawkmoth?!” Ladybug bellowed. “I can’t take it anymore! If he’s got to wake me up at 4am, can he not send an akuma with an _ounce_ of fashion sense?!”

“Perhaps he’s trying to torture you,” Chat suggested.

“More like succeeding,” Rena muttered.

Ladybug glared at them both, to which they quickly put their hands up.

“It’s a _travesty_,” she hissed, as though daring them to argue.

“I mean. It’s not terrible,” Chat said, though he quickly regretted it when Ladybug turned the full force of her glare on him. He ducked behind Rena with a ‘meep’.

“It’s horrible! Disgusting! Hawkmoth should die!” Rena said quickly, hands still held upright.

“You’re right. He _should_ die,” Ladybug said, clenching one fist. Then she threw her yo-yo into the air and leaped off the roof.

Chat breathed a sigh of relief. “Wow, she _really _hates being woken up.”

“I feel so sorry for you,” Rena said. “You are in for some tough nights when you have kids someday.”

“Ugh,” Chat muttered, grimacing.

“Say,” Rena said thoughtfully.

“What?”

“Did Ladybug sound a little… _too_ serious about Hawkmoth dying?”

They looked at each other again.

“Ah shit,” Chat said, scrambling to the edge of the roof and launching himself off. “Ladybug, _wait_!”


	14. Rivals

AU where Lila is arguably more of a bitch than normal.

* * *

Marinette ground her teeth together. She had to physically sit on her hands to keep from lunging at Lila, and the only reason she was doing that was because she knew it wouldn’t do any good. All she could do was sit there and watch in miserable silence as Lila showed off the design she had_ stolen_ from Marinette. Apparently Lila had decided they should be rivals in design, except she couldn’t design worth a damn.

She never should’ve left her sketchbook in her desk while she went home for lunch. That was the only thought circulating in Marinette’s mind. Lila must have snuck in and carefully torn out the relevant pages. All of Marinette’s notes and sketches were currently being wrinkled in Lila’s hands as she showed them to everyone in class. 

“It’s just so cute!” Rose gushed.

“I can’t believe this is your first try,” said Juleka.

Lila smiled modestly. “Well, I’ve been designing in private for a long time. This is just the first time I felt comfortable showing anyone my work.” 

“It’s very well done,” Alya said. “Hey Marinette, maybe you and Lila could design something together sometime! Your styles look pretty similar.”

Marinette wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. There was _no way_ she could respond to that absurd suggestion kindly. She hadn’t even signed those sketches yet. If she spoke up and said Lila had stolen it, people wouldn’t believe her. They would only think she was jealous because Lila had designed something so pretty.

Fortunately, at that moment Adrien and Nino walked in. Alya fixated on them immediately, taking the heat off of Marinette.

“Adrien, c’mere! Lila’s showing us a dress she designed.”

“Oh?” Adrien said, setting his backpack down and moving closer. He looked at the pages spread out on Lila’s desk.

Immediately, his face changed. His polite smile faded away to a look of confusion. Then, for some reason, he looked up at Marinette in shock. She blinked back at him. Adrien stared at her for a moment, gaze intent, and then fury flashed over his face. A chill ran down Marinette’s spine as Adrien straightened up.

“Lila,” Adrien said in a hard voice, gathering the papers. “You didn’t design this. Marinette did.”

Marinette’s mouth dropped open. 

“What?” Lila said, eyes wide. “Adrien, that’s not true. I’ve been working hard on this for weeks.”

Adrien shook his head. “No, you haven’t. Marinette showed me this exact design four nights ago. She asked my opinion on it. I told her she should change this seam right here.” He pointed to a particular spot.

What? _What_?! Marinette felt frozen. Because no one had seen this particular design… except for _one_ person. Four nights ago, she was so frustrated that she’d taken her sketchbook with her on patrol. It was supposed to be a solo patrol, but naturally Chat had shown up and nosed around until she reluctantly showed him what she was doing. The fact that he’d been able to offer a helpful suggestion had come as a very welcome surprise indeed.

“Wait, what?” Alya said, looking back and forth between Adrien and Lila. “Adrien… you must be mistaken.”

“I’m not,” Adrien said firmly. “How did you get these papers, Lila?”

“I - uh -” Lila looked trapped, eyes darting around. “I - I - um, obviously Marinette copied me! She saw my design and decided to copy it!”

“Marinette would _never_ do that,” Adrien said. “I don’t know if _you_ copied_ her_ or stole these or what.” He folded the papers and stuck them in his pocket. “But I do know that only Marinette could design something so amazing.”

He walked up the steps and held a hand out to Marinette in a silent question. Marinette stared at him, mentally putting a black mask over those kind eyes and messing that blond hair up. The result made her want to laugh and cry simultaneously, especially when she saw the enraged look on Lila’s face over Adrien’s shoulder.

She took his hand, and he pulled her up. They left the class together just as a surge of voices rose up behind them, questioning Lila, but for once Marinette didn’t care. She had more important things to think about than Lila Rossi, and they all started and ended with the cat beside her.


	15. Bookstore

“Alright, class. You’ve got twenty minutes to find your book,” Madame Bustier announced.

Marinette smiled to herself as she made her way further into the bookstore, separating herself from the rest of her classmates. She didn’t have a lot of spare time to read between school, helping in the bakery, designing and being a superhero, but that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy it. And for her book report, she knew exactly which book she wanted.

She turned into an aisle, paying more attention to the signs overhead than to where she was going, and squeaked as she bumped into someone hard enough to send them both stumbling backwards. Marinette heard a few books fall to the ground and winced as she opened her eyes.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I -” She froze.

“It’s okay, Marinette,” Adrien said. He stooped down to pick up the books he’d dropped while Marinette stared at him in horror. Of all the people in the store, she’d bumped into _Adrien_. He probably thought she was a complete klutz!

He straightened up and smiled at her, and Marinette squeaked again as her face reddened. The polite thing to do would’ve been to apologize again, but her brain was frozen. She couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

“Are you okay?” Adrien asked, looking a little worried.

Marinette opened her mouth, probably to say something extremely embarrassing but unable to help herself, but two nearby voices cut her off. This time, both of them froze like hunted rabbits.

“_I’m _going to be Adrien’s partner for this, not you.”

“The hell you will, Rossi. Get out of my way!”

Adrien’s face was a mask of pure panic. He looked like he would’ve happily jumped out at a window if there had been one nearby. Marinette couldn’t blame him. She could hear Lila and Chloé getting closer quickly.

“Why don’t_ you_ get out of _my_ way, Bourgeois? Adrien would much rather spend time with me!”

“Oh please. Adrikins!”

At the sound of Chloé’s call, Adrien’s expression changed from panic to outright dismay - but also resignation. Marinette frowned at that, and automatically looked around the small space. Her eyes caught on a door, barely visible at the very back of the aisle, and she made a split second decision.

“Come on,” she whispered, pushing past Adrien. She marched to the end of the aisle and grabbed the doorknob. It led to some kind of closet. Marinette stepped inside, a little surprised when Adrien hastily followed her, and pulled the door shut behind them just in time.

“Adrien!” Lila shouted somewhere outside.

There was just enough light for Marinette to see Adrien cringe. She put a finger over her lips and he nodded, anxiously rubbing a hand through his hair.

“I know he went this way!” Chloé said loudly. “Adrien, honey, where are you?”

“He’s not here,” Lila said. “He must’ve run off when he heard _you_ coming.”

“Oh, I’m so sure,” Chloé snapped.

“Get out of my way!”

“Why don’t _you_ get out of _my_ way?!”

Marinette listened to the sound of them shuffling away and breathed a quiet sigh of relief - then frowned again. Now that she wasn’t laser focused on Chloé and Lila, she heard a familiar sound. It was soft, but definitely discernible, and she turned to Adrien in disbelief.

“Are you… are you _purring_?”

“… No?” Adrien said, a very definite rumble in his voice.

“Yes, you are,” Marinette said, squinting at him. Normally she’d be flustered to her wit’s end at being trapped in a small space with Adrien Agreste, but something about this felt different.

Almost familiar.

“Have you always smelled like freshly baked macarons?” Adrien asked nervously.

“… No?” Marinette said, even though the answer was a very definite yes. Her pulse quickened as Adrien’s purring grew a bit louder. They need to get out of this closet immediately.

Because in the dim light, with his hair messed up like that, Adrien was looking a bit too much like Chat Noir for comfort.


	16. Supernatural

AU where, once their power and bonds with each other and with Tikki and Plagg have grown, Ladybug and Chat Noir can also transform into an actual ladybug and black cat.

* * *

Adrien looked down at the remains of his unsatisfying meal and sighed. He set his fork and knife down on his plate. The clinking of the cutlery seemed unusually loud in the otherwise empty room. His father had failed to show up for dinner _again_.

But then a light pressure on his arm told him he was no longer alone. He smiled to see the little ladybug walking up his forearm, and held out his opposite hand. The ladybug clumsily jumped from his forearm to his index finger, wings fluttering unsteadily.

Flying was still a work in progress.

“I’m retiring to my room,” Adrien called out, just in case anyone was listening (he doubted they were) and stood up. He carried the ladybug up to his room, where he shut the door behind him.

The ladybug took flight, but only flew for a few inches before a familiar red light burst through the room and Ladybug appeared. She fell to one knee with a startled yelp, both hands outstretched to break her fall.

“You didn’t fall on your face this time. You’re improving!” Adrien said, reaching out both hands to help her up. She gave him a _look_ in response, to which he grinned.

“Spots off,” Ladybug said, rolling her eyes. Marinette took his hands and let him help her up as Tikki tiredly flew over to his desk. Adrien left a container of cookies out all the time now, and Tikki popped the top off.

“What are you doing here?” Adrien asked as Plagg joined Tikki.

“I know you said you had to be home for dinner tonight. I was hoping to make it before you ate so I could keep you company,” Marinette said, dusting off her knee.

Adrien smiled softly. “That was nice of you. I was just thinking of what a lonely meal I was having before you came.”

“If they want you to be here, the least they could do is join you,” Marinette grumbled.

“I’m sure Père has a great excuse,” Adrien said. He didn’t really believe that for a second, and he could tell that Marinette didn’t either.

The older Adrien got, the less of an effort Gabriel made. He was only seventeen and it seemed like he _never_ saw his father now. The days where he would see Gabriel in passing, or at least for the occasional meal, were long gone. They communicated solely through Nathalie.

“Right,” Marinette said skeptically. “Wanna come spend the night?”

“Absolutely,” Adrien said without skipping a beat. He spent most nights at her house now. He was pretty sure Nathalie knew, which meant there was a 50/50 chance Gabriel knew, but he didn’t really care.

Marinette smiled. “Just gotta give Tikki a chance to rest and then we can go,” she said. “How are you making out?”

“Last time, I managed to walk all the way around my room without falling over,” Adrien replied. Turning into an actual cat, while an exciting achievement to have unlocked, was a lot harder than it seemed. Like flying, walking on all fours was definitely something that had to be practiced.

“You’ll get it,” Marinette said with a comforting pat to his shoulder.

“Personally, I just can’t wait for the day when I see Chloé literally trying to buzz around.”

“Or Nino trying to walk with his shell?” Marinette said with a smirk. “Or Alya trying to jump. It’s gonna be hilarious.”

Adrien nodded in agreement, but added, “Let’s never tell them how much _we’ve_ struggled.”

“Deal.”


	17. Gamer

AU after Gamer 2.0.

* * *

“You mind if we review strategies just a tad?”

Marinette twitched as she turned to look her partner for the competition. Adrien immediately put his hands up.

“Just a suggestion,” he said quickly.

“I’m_ fine_,” Marinette said shortly, even though she really wasn’t. When Max had brought up the idea of a classwide video game competition, Marinette had eagerly agreed. She’d thought that it would be the perfect thing to get her back on the same level as the rest of her classmates. And being partnered with Adrien through a random draw was a dream come true.

That was, until she found out that Lila was actually pretty good at video games. Good enough to be a competent partner to Max. Good enough to give Marinette a run for her money - though it didn’t help that Marinette felt like she was tense and on edge, unable to really concentrate on the game when Lila was in such close proximity.

“Okay,” Adrien said, clearly not believing her.

Marinette crossed her arms. She wasn’t used to being beaten at video games, and it sucked even more that she was losing to _Lila_ of all people. Especially when Lila wasn’t playing fair. Every time Marinette came close to winning, Lila would say something obnoxious, ‘accidentally’ nudge her at just the wrong time, or otherwise create some kind of distraction.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, watching Lila and Max go up against Alya and Rose, before Marinette sighed.

“I’m sorry, Adrien. I’m being a sore loser,” she said finally, feeling a little guilty. He didn’t deserve to bear the brunt of her frustrations; Adrien was practically her only friend in the class now. 

Adrien shook his head. “It’s okay. I get it. It’s just… being good at the game and knowing how to play isn’t the _only_ way to win. When you focus on winning you get tense and frustrated when you make mistakes or lose, and it also makes you easier to distract. It’s all about _loving_ to play.” He smiled to himself. “For me personally, playing is all about getting to do things you_ never _get to do in real life.”

Marinette sat very still, her eyes wide. Her heart started to race. She’d heard this pep talk before, hadn’t she? The very last time she played video games… only Adrien hadn’t been her partner then… right?

“So just have some fun,” Adrien concluded, turning to smile at her. He paused when he saw the look on her face, his expression quickly changing to concern. “Marinette? Are you okay?”

It could’ve been a coincidence. Marinette clenched her hands in her lap and turned to look at him slowly.

“You mean something I’d never get to do, like pretend I’m Evillustrator and punch Volpina?” Marinette said. If this was just a coincidence, Adrien would think it was an unusual remark but that was it.

If it wasn’t…

Adrien stared at her for a moment. He blinked once, twice, then cocked his head like he was working through a difficult physics problem. Then he paled and his mouth dropped open. He made a wheezing sound.

“Marinette, Adrien, it’s your turn!” Alya called.

“Skip us,” Marinette said faintly, keeping her eyes locked on Adrien. 

“Are you sure?” Alya said.

“Bugaboo?” Adrien mouthed the word at her, and Marinette gulped.

“Yeah,” she whispered.


	18. Bartender

“I think you’ve had enough,” the bartender said, gently pulling her empty glass away from her. “Do you have a way to get home, Ma’am?”

Marinette glared at him in lieu of an answer and slowly slid off her stool. Her knees felt a little weak, but she was able to walk out of the bar under her own power and she considered that to be a win. She stood there for a moment, breathing in the cold winter air, before sighing and slowly meandering into the nearest alley.

“You should go home, Marinette,” Tikki said, popping out of Marinette’s purse the instant they were alone.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Marinette grumbled.

Tikki gave her a look. “Marinette. You’re drunk. It’s late. You have school tomorrow.”

“I am not drunk,” Marinette mumbed, leaning against the wall. Not drunk enough, anyway. Thoughts of Lila and the stunt she’d pulled today swirled around Marinette’s head until she wanted to throw up - or maybe that was the alchohol.

“Yes, you are. Drunk enough that -”

“Spots on!” Marinette interrupted, cutting Tikki off. Red light washed over her and she straightened up, squinting at the rooftop above. It took a three or four attempts to make her yoyo catch on something, but finally it worked and she was hauled off her feet into the air.

Ladybug landed on the rooftop and immediately sat down hard. She kept sitting there for a few minutes, looking around at the city. She’d never noticed before how cold and unwelcoming Paris could look in the winter. With the taste of vodka on her tongue, even the usually vibrant lights looked flat and depressing.

She didn’t want to be here, she realized. She was so tired of giving and giving and giving and never getting anything back. It was exhausting. It was unfair! Why did she have to put up with so much shit in her personal life? Ladybugs were supposed to be lucky for god’s sake, but Marinette just got beat on constantly.

There was one person who she could count on, though. Ladybug groped around until she found her yoyo and opened it. The screen spun before her eyes for a few seconds. She jabbed randomly at the buttons until, magically, it connected and called Chat Noir.

Remarkably, he answered immediately with a cheery, “What do I owe a 2am call from my beautiful lady?”

“Chat,” she cried.

“Ladybug?” The humor in Chat’s voice vanished instantly. “What’s wrong?”

She lay back on the roof. “I’m not Ladybug. Ladybugs are supposed to be lucky. I’m just me, Marinette.”

“Wh-wh-what - M-Marinette?” Chat stuttered.

“Can you come get me?” Ladybug whispered, staring up at the sky. Her face felt wet; she touched her cheek and realized she was crying.

“Ladybug - yes. Of course.” Chat sounded bewildered, but concerned. “I’ll lock onto your location.”

“Okay,” she said, starting to cry harder. “Please hurry.”

“I will. I’m coming right now."


	19. Roadtrip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a direct continuation of [Ladrien June Day 30: Paris](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19046746/chapters/46222936).

Ladybug spent the night curled up in his arms. But when Adrien woke up the next morning, she was gone. He dressed, ate breakfast alone, and went to school with a lighter heart. If nothing else, he was relieved that he’d eased his lady’s burden in at least one way.

Everyone in the class was chatting when he walked in. Adrien took his seat just in time to hear the tail-end of Lila repeating the same details about her Russia trip as what she’d said yesterday, and privately rolled his eyes.

“What about you, Dude?” Nino asked, punching Adrien lightly in the arm. “Made up your mind? What did your dad say?”

“Yeah. Sorry, Nino, it’s not gonna happen,” Adrien said. As fun as the trip sounded, there was just no way he could go. Truthfully he hadn’t even bothered to ask Gabriel, but his father was a convenient excuse.

Nino sighed but nodded. “I kinda figured that would be the case. I know your dad is a dick but you should really let loose once in a while. We won’t be young forever.”

“I just can’t right now,” Adrien said. He turned his head, attention immediately captured, as Marinette wandered in.

She looked beautiful this morning, her hair pulled back into a messy bun and eyes bright behind a take away cup of coffee. She was wearing black pants and a bright red top, which was unusual for her. She didn’t usually wear red.

Adrien hoped against hope that there was something _more_ behind her decision to wear red today, and sat up straight as she neared. He felt like a puppy wagging his tail for attention, but he couldn’t help himself.

“What about you, Mari?” Alya asked eagerly, nearly knocking Nino’s cap off as she waved her hands. “Did you ask your parents? Our roadtrip is a go, right?”

Marinette set another cup of coffee on Adrien’s desk, along with a small bag that smelled of delicious, flaky pastry goodness. She met his eyes and smiled even as she blushed a little, and _this_time her smile reached her eyes.

“Sorry, Alya. I can’t go. I’m needed in Paris this summer,” she said.

Alya frowned, looking disappointed. “Why? Don’t you wanna have one last summer of fun together before we have to become grown-ups?”

“Of course I do,” Marinette said. “But -”

“Then come with me! It’ll be so cool. I’ve got it all planned out. We’re gonna start with Italy and then head up to -”

“I can’t,” Marinette said, a little more firmly this time.

“But why? What could be so important that you’re gonna stay _here_ instead of coming with me on an amazing trip?!” Alya demanded.

“We’re planning our wedding this summer.”

The words were out before Adrien could stop them. Marinette’s mouth dropped open. So did Nino’s. Alya made a weird, high-pitched sound that didn’t sound completely human - shades of Trixx, no doubt. Everyone else just stared.

“What?” Marinette said faintly.

“What?!” Alya screeched, so loud that Marinette’s whisper went unheard.

“Dude!” Nino exclaimed. “_Marinette_ is your secret girlfriend?!”

“I think so,” Adrien said, which was probably an odd answer to anyone besides him and Marinette. But that was alright. He turned to her and held out his hand.

Alya, who was almost hyperventilating by this point, grabbed for her phone and held it up to record them. Adrien didn’t pay her much attention. His sole focus was on his partner.

He and Ladybug has been dating for just over two years. Adrien had known for almost three and a half that she was the woman he wanted to marry. Figuring out who she was just made him all the _more_ determined.

There was wonder and awe in those familiar blue eyes as Marinette took his hand. Adrien brought her hand to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles. Her smile broadened until it stretched from ear to ear.

“Silly kitty, you didn’t even ask first,” she chided lightly, and Adrien’s heart thumped madly in his chest.

It was her. It was _really_ her.

“I’m asking now,” Adrien said. “We can go shopping for rings immediately after school.”

“Yes,” Marinette said, blushing.

“Oh my god!” Alya screamed out amongst many other cries of surprise and shouts of congratulations. Chloé didn’t look happy, of course, but it was Lila who was dramatically throwing her hands up and crying.

Adrien was deaf to all of them as he got up and pulled Marinette into a sweet kiss. She tasted of coffee and chocolate, and he couldn’t stop from grinning. She giggled and nuzzled their noses together.

“What gave me away?” she asked in a whisper.

“I always told you I’d know you,” Adrien said confidently. “It just took me a little while longer to figure it out.”

And he kissed her again to prove it.


	20. Boarding School

“He wants to _WHAT_?!” Ladybug didn’t mean to scream _quite_ that loud, and only realized how loud she’d been when Chat’s ears automatically flattened down against his head from the sound.

But still. She thought she could be forgiven considering the circumstances.

“Please tell me I heard you wrong,” she begged, seizing Chat’s hands.

Chat stared down at the ground, the very picture of a dejected kitty, and practically whispered: “Sadly no. My dad wants to send me to boarding school for my last year. He says Paris is too dangerous and that being away at school will be good for me.” His voice shook, fraught with emotion somewhere between bitterness and fear.

“He can’t,” Ladybug said, horrified. “_You_ can’t!”

“I don’t know that I have a choice,” Chat said. His eyes were bright with tears. “My father… you don’t understand him. No one says no to him. If I tried…” He shuddered.

“Would he hurt you?” Ladybug whispered. Only after she’d spoken did it occur to her that it was a stupid question. Chat’s father had _already_ hurt him mentally and emotionally, and, from little comments and hints Chat had been making all along, had probably been doing so for years now.

“Not physically,” Chat said, which only served to underscore what she was thinking. “He would just be mad. _Really_ mad.”

Ladybug stared at him, squeezing Chat’s hands so tight her own fingers had gone numb. She couldn’t fathom the idea of losing Chat. He was a dork and he had a dumb sense of humor and a worse sense of timing but he was _Chat_. Her kitty. Her other half.

She _couldn’t_ lose him.

“No,” Ladybug said, shaking her head. “Nope. I refuse to let this happen.”

“Ladybug -”

“_No_,” she said. It was a sign of how bad off he was when Chat called her by her name and not a nickname, and that scared her.

Chat sighed. “I’m… I’m not sure I have a choice. If he kicked me out, I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“You can’t stay with any friends? Family?” Ladybug asked.

“I don’t have any other family. And my best friend… I’m sure he’d take me in if he could, but he’s got a little brother and his parents probably couldn’t afford another kid. Especially one that eats as much as me.” Chat tried to smile, but his chin was quivering too much.

He let out a sudden sob and dropped to his knees, jerking his hands free only to wrap his arms around her waist. She froze as he pressed his face to her stomach, clutching at her so tightly that she’d no doubt have bruises come tomorrow.

“I don’t want to go,” he cried. “Being Chat Noir is everything to me. I don’t want to stop or leave Plagg behind. And leaving _you_… I can’t!”

“Chat…” Ladybug stared down at him, tears sliding down her cheeks. She touched his head, letting her fingers sink into his hair. She’d always imagined it was soft, even if she’d never gotten the chance to touch it outside the suit.

She closed her eyes and, for just a moment, tried to let herself envision a future with another Chat Noir fighting by her side. But she couldn’t. The images in her head refused to come into focus, like a bad cable signal. After three years together, could she even be Ladybug without Chat? Did she even _want_ to?

No. No, she didn’t. It was Chat or nothing, and the latter just wouldn’t do.

“Chat. _Chaton_, listen to me,” Ladybug said. She managed to loosen his grip just enough to slide to her knees, practically straddling his lap because of their close proximity. At any other time the position would’ve made her embarrassed or a little uncomfortable, but she firmly thrust such thoughts from her mind.

Because Chat looked at her, his face streaked with tears that kept coming, and her heart shattered into a bunch of little pieces. He was hugging her desperately, claws digging into her hips, but she didn’t protest.

“You’re not going anywhere,” she said firmly, wiping a few tears from his face.

“But -”

“But nothing. If your dad kicks you out, you can come live with me. My parents wouldn’t say no. You could help in the bakery after school and on the weekend to help compensate,” Ladybug said, the ideas easily crystallizing in her mind. Yes, this was _much_ better. “We’ve got a guest room, or you can share my room.” Hell, he could share her _bed_ if they had to. No sacrifice would be too small.

“Live… live with _you_?” Chat didn’t seem to have heard anything beyond that. “But that would mean…”

“Yes, I know. I still don’t like the idea of revealing our identities, but your dad is forcing our hands. I’m _not_ letting go of you,” Ladybug said fiercely, wrapping her own arms around his neck. “You’re _mine_.”

“Ladybug… thank you,” Chat whispered. “I - I don’t know how to…”

“Shh, _mon minou_. You don’t need to thank me. We’re partners, right?” She rested their foreheads together. “Partners stay together no matter what.”

“No matter what,” Chat echoed, a very small smile touching his lips - the first smile she’d seen from him all night.

Ladybug smiled back. This was going to be hard, she knew. Awkward, uncomfortable, and probably scary. It might even mean telling her parents who they were. But damn it all, _she didn’t fucking care_. She would do whatever it took to keep Chat here in Paris with her, where he belonged.


	21. Airport

“It’s only for a month,” Adrien said, looking gloomily at his ticket. His three friends all exchanged looks, none of them sure what to say to that, until finally Nino cleared his throat. He clapped Adrien on the shoulder.

“That’s right. You’ll be back in no time!” he said with forced cheerfulness.

“Absolutely,” Alya said, smiling.

Marinette stayed quiet, but Adrien still looked over at her and smiled with gratitude. After all, if it weren’t for the three of them, he wouldn’t have anyone to see him off except for his bodyguard, who was looming in the distance.

“You wanna get something to eat?” Nino asked.

“Nah, I’m good,” Adrien said.

“Hey Nino, let’s go scope out the gift shop. Marinette and Adrien can keep an eye on his luggage,” Alya said. Over Adrien’s head, she winked at Marinette.

Marinette tried to smile back, but she wasn’t sure her face was cooperating. Her brain still felt frozen, and had ever since a certain black cat told Ladybug last night that he was _also_ leaving for a month. Was it too much of a coincidence that both of the loyal, kind, blond men in her life were leaving at the exact same time for the exact same _length_ of time for the exact same place?

Probably. She’d wrestled with that very question all night, screamed a lot into her pillow, might have shed a tear or two over the thought of being away from Chat for a whole month, harassed the hell out of poor Tikki, and was now just numb with shock and exhaustion.

Nino and Alya walked off and Adrien sighed loudly. “It’s only a month,” he said again.

“A month isn’t terrible,” Marinette lied, looking around the bustling airport. A month was an _eternity_.

Adrien shot her a weak smile. “It’ll go by before I know it?”

“Sure?” Marinette said unconvincingly, and Adrien sighed again.

“I’d really rather not go,” he confided. “My father says it’ll do my career good to model in Italy, but I don’t care. I don’t even know if I want to keep being a model after we graduate.”

“Then why go?” Marinette asked, genuinely curious. She’d posed the same question to Chat. He hadn’t had a good answer.

“I guess because my father says I should?” Adrien said, making it sound like a question - and god, that was word for word what Chat had said.

She didn’t say anything. Couldn’t.

He laughed a little awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess that’s a shitty reason.”

Marinette dug her nails into her thighs. “Well,” she said, heart racing uncomfortably fast because she was _sure_ now. “If it were me, and I had other responsibilities here, I wouldn’t go.”

Adrien paused at that. “That’s right. I forgot you turned down that trip to New York.”

“I did. I had to. Paris needed me,” Marinette said.

He watched her for a long moment, silent. Thinking. Then he finally said, “I do have other responsibilities here. Big ones. _Important_ ones. If something happened while I was gone, I’d never forgive myself.”

She turned her head to meet his eyes. “Sounds like maybe you should stay.”

“Yeah… I don’t know.” Adrien looked away. “On the other hand, I’m sure that she’ll be able to take care of herself. She doesn’t need me.” He whispered that last part to himself.

And there it was, the thing that snapped her out of her daze. Pure rage. Because that - that just made Marinette mad. _Really_ mad. Mad enough to forget herself. She stood up, clenching both fists to keep from punching someone. Maybe Adrien for having such a low opinion of himself, or maybe Gabriel for being such an asshole and purposely cultivating that low opinion to keep Adrien under his thumb.

“You idiot,” she seethed. “You stupid, _stupid_ cat!”

Adrien’s mouth fell open. “Marinette?”

“How dare you say I don’t need you?!” Marinette shouted. “Do you think I could do anything that I do without you? Do you think I could keep going without you? Do you even remember who gave me the courage to keep going when I wanted to quit the first time we messed up? Do you realize I can’t do this without you, and that when you told me you were leaving last night I went home and cried?!”

He stared at her in shock. Everyone was staring at them, including Alya and Nino - they both looked incredibly bewildered, almost as confused as Adrien. Marinette planted her hands on her hips and leaned down until their face were inches apart.

“You are my _partner_,” she hissed through gritted teeth. “If after all this time you can’t appreciate that, and still haven’t realized _how much I need you_, maybe you _should_ go!”

He kept staring, shocked speechless, as Marinette turned on her heel and stormed away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ficlet has [received an expansion](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20497283/chapters/48642659)!


	22. Business

“You do realize you look like a total creeper standing out here, right?”

“Sh-shut up, Plagg!” Adrien stuttered, mortified - and a little too loudly. A couple of women walking by turned and looked at him. Adrien immediately ducked his head and yanked his baseball cap further down over his hair.

The last thing he needed right now was a bunch of fangirls freaking out.

Plagg snickered. “Adrien, seriously, this is getting _sad_. Like, to the point where it’s so sad I’m not even sure I can mock you for it. Just walk up to the door, open it, and walk inside.”

“It’s not that easy!” Adrien hissed, crouching down and peering across the street at the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Like always, it was a bustling business. He knew from Alya that Marinette was helping out there today, dealing with the Saturday afternoon rush. Every so often he caught a glimpse of pigtails that made his heart speed up.

Marinette was his lady. Marinette was Ladybug. They’d only found out a week ago. Things were still awkward _in_ the mask, so he didn’t think it would be any better _outside_ the mask - yet he still found himself here, irresistibly drawn to her.

If he could just work up the courage to go inside -

He froze as a familiar figure passed by the window. Marinette was looking super cute today in blue jeans and a pink cotton t-shirt, with a bright blue apron overtop her clothes. Adrien watched as she helped an elderly customer out of the shop. Her kindness really was unparalleled, but she was also busy.

“You know what, this wasn’t a good idea. I shouldn’t go see her at work.”

“What?!” Plagg squawked.

“She’s too busy. I should just go.”

“We’ve been standing here for _three hours_ and you’re just going to _leave_?!” Plagg exclaimed.

“Yup.” Adrien stood up.

“No. No way. I am not spending another night listening to you whine about her,” Plagg said, suddenly sounding a little frantic. “I can’t handle it. Nope!”

“Plagg!” Adrien screeched as Plagg phased out of his pocket and took off across the street. Utterly horrified, he took off after his kwami.

Another customer was leaving just as Plagg got to the door. Plagg shot inside the bakery. Adrien paused just long enough to smile awkwardly at the woman who held the door for him before he followed, eyes darting frantically around the small space .

Which was filled to the brim with customers. _Tons_of customers. What the hell was Plagg _thinking_?

Then he finally spotted Marinette, standing by the counter with a rather shocked look on her face. She had both hands pressed over the little pink purse that always hung by her side. Her eyes met Adrien and a look of understanding replaced the surprise.

Adrien sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he walked over to her. “Um, hi.”

“Hi,” Marinette said shyly. “I think I have something of yours. He scared the hell out of me. All of a sudden this black blur dive-bombed me.”

“Uh, sorry about that. I don’t know what he was thinking. I was just waiting outside - passing by! I was just. Just passing by,” Adrien said lamely.

Marinette smiled. “Well, luckily it doesn’t seem like anyone noticed.”

Adrien glanced around, realizing that she was right, and smiled back. “Must be because of your incredible luck, Bugaboo.”

It was only after Marinette turned bright red that Adrien realized what he’d called her, and he blushed too. They stood there for a moment in awkward silence. Then, mercifully, Sabine came over.

“Marinette, you can take your break now. Why don’t you take Adrien upstairs and let him try Papa’s new recipe?”

Marinette, if it was possible, reddened further. “Maman, I’m sure Adrien is busy. He probably doesn’t have time to -”

“I do! I have time. Lots of time!” Adrien said eagerly. Maybe a bit too eagerly judging by how Sabine grinned. He tried to calm down, adding, “I-I mean, if you want to.”

“O-oh. I - okay. Sure,” Marinette said with another smile. “Right this way.”

Behind Marinette’s head, Sabine winked knowingly at Adrien. He blushed again and quickly hurried after his lady.


	23. Imprinting

Marinette stared at her psychology book until her eyes glazed over and the paragraph about imprinting became nothing more than a smear of ink. She groaned loudly and pushed the books away hard enough to send them over the side of her bed, where they hit the floor with a resounding crash.

“Marinette!” Tikki exclaimed in surprise. Moments later, Tikki flew up to perch on a stuffed toy and frown at her.

“Sorry, Tikki. I just can’t study anymore. My brain is stuffed full,” Marinette said, pulling a pillow over her face and squeezing her eyes shut. Words and numbers danced over the inside of her eyelids.

“I thought your exam is tomorrow,” said Tikki.

“It is,” Marinette muttered. Damn university electives. Damn exams. Damn it all!

“Maybe you should take a - eep!”

“Tikki?” Marinette instantly sat up, pillow falling from her face, to see what had so alarmed her kwami.

And then she saw it. Chat Noir waved at her from above, shoulders hunched and a meek smile on his face. Marinette stared at him incredulously, then shook her head and got up on her knees. She cracked open the window and shivered at the cold.

“Chat, what are you doing here?” Marinette asked. They both had exams to study for, she knew, and he’d already told her not to expect a visit until after they were done.

“I got lonely,” Chat replied. “And bored. There’s only so many physics equations I can look at.”

“I know that feeling,” Marinette muttered. “It’s cold. Come in.” She awkwardly scootched back to give him space. He lowered himself through the window and crossed his legs, looking around at her assorted notes and the remaining books.

“I see you’re having as much luck as I am,” he said.

“Pretty much.” She reached out and shut the window, then curled up against her cat pillow. She watched as he picked up one of her design books and idly flipped through it without speaking. Her eyes narrowed.

This wasn’t like Chat. Usually when he came to visit, he was either loud and boisterous or timid and quiet, depending on his mood and what had happened with his father. This distracted air of his wasn’t normal. Marinette narrowed her eyes slightly, curious.

“What’s going on?” she demanded, because with Chat it was typically best not to beat around the bush.

Chat didn’t look up at her. “I have a question. A hypothetical question.”

“Okay…” Marinette said.

“If, hypothetically, I knew who Ladybug was, do you think she’d want me to tell her that I knew?”

Marinette froze.

Chat still didn’t look up.

A bunch of questions raced through her mind all at once. Did he know? _How_ did he know? When had he found out? How _long_ had he known? Why hadn’t he told her right away? How should she respond? What if he didn’t know for sure and she gave something away?!

“Marinette?” Chat said quietly, finally peeking up at her through his eyelashes. “It’s just a hypothetical question, remember.”

Yet she thought that was probably a lie. There was something new in the way he looked at her. Not quite how he usually looked at Ladybug, not quite how he usually looked at Marinette, but some mysterious combination of the two.

Her heart fluttered. She swallowed hard.

“I think,” Marinette said, trying to compose herself, “that, _hypothetically_, if Ladybug is a university student, this is probably the last thing she wants to hear about right before exams start.”

“I thought about that, but it was driving me crazy - er, _would be_ driving me crazy if it wasn’t, you know, hypothetical,” Chat hastily corrected.

Marinette wanted to laugh hysterically, but she held it together. “And hypothetically, after she was done her exams, Ladybug might be willing to talk about it.”

“Yeah?” Chat said, gaze sharpening.

She nodded. “Hypothetically.”

“Hypothetically,” he agreed, shooting her a tiny smile. “Thanks, Marinette. I should go. We’ve both got revising to finish.

He got up on his knees and opened the window. Marinette watched him go, shocked to her core. But she still possessed the wherewithal to call his name at the last moment. His head appeared back through the window and he looked at her expectantly.

“You should bring chocolate to that conversation,” Marinette said bluntly, not even bothering to add a ‘hypothetical’ to her statement this time. She was gonna need _something_ to get through that talk without screaming.

Chat’s eyes twinkled and he grinned at her. “I know. You like caramel, right?”

And then he giggled mischievously and disappeared up through the window. Marinette sputtered a bit and got unsteadily to her feet. In spite of the cold, she poked her head up in order to watch him go.

“That damn cat,” she muttered.


	24. Dystopian

“Do you ever wonder about what would happen if Hawkmoth won?” Chat asked.

He could feel the way that Ladybug tensed at his question, and almost regretted asking. They’d gotten closer over the last six months, and now at least one ‘patrol’ a week usually involved them cuddling up with snacks and just watching the city.

He hoped he hadn’t ruined that. These nights were honestly the best part of his week. Sometimes it felt like they were the only thing keeping him going; spending time with Ladybug had become the proverbial carrot at the end of the stick.

“Why?” Ladybug asked after a considerable pause.

Chat shrugged. “I’m just… curious, I guess? I know the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous can grant any wish if you use them together. Sometimes I wonder what Hawkmoth wants so badly that he’s willing to do all this to get them.”

“Oh,” Ladybug said, relaxing again. “Hmm. That’s a good question.”

Relieved, Chat laid his cheek on her head and continued, “Like, what if his wish is for total world domination and he creates some kind of dystopian future?”

“Maybe, but I don’t see Hawkmoth as wanting word domination. He has a hard enough time controlling his akumas sometimes,” Ladybug said slyly.

“Hell yeah he does,” Chat said, grinning. “Okay… maybe he’s really poor and wants to be rich. Maybe he’s stuck in some boring, dead-end job.”

“I could see that. Hey, maybe he wants to be famous,” Ladybug said. “He could be a nobody.”

“Well, if that’s the case, he’ll certainly get his wish when we unmask him. Everyone will know who he is then,” Chat said.

“Maybe it’s something personal,” Ladybug said. She was warming to the game now. “Like… I don’t know. There’s a really annoying person he wishes he could blip out of existence.”

“Are we talking about _Hawkmoth’s_ wish or _your _wish?” Chat asked innocently.

Ladybug snorted and pinched his rib. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“So if you got a wish, it wouldn’t involve Lila Rossi in any way?”

“…. No,” Ladybug lied, completely unconvincingly, and Chat laughed.

He knew how much she disliked Lila Rossi. That, paired with other things he’d learned ever since they started spending more time together, made him wonder sometimes. Ladybug and a certain designer certainly had a lot in common.

“Well, if I had a wish, I think I’d use it to make my dad happy again,” Chat said.

Ladybug pulled away so she could turn to look at him in surprise. “You wouldn’t use it for yourself?”

“I’m pretty happy with my life, My Lady. I mean, I do wish my dad would lighten up some. So I guess that wish would benefit me in the end too. I think what would make him happy is having my mom back,” Chat explained.

“I thought you might use it to make me fall in love with you,” Ladybug said, a curious look in her eyes.

Chat shook his head quickly. “No. If you fall in love with me, I don’t want it to be because of magic. That’s not real love.” He looked away. “I have enough people fawning over me, both as Chat Noir and my civilian self, for reasons that aren’t real. I don’t want it from you too. Whatever is between us, I need it to be _real_.”

She was quiet again for long enough that he started to think he might’ve said something wrong, but he didn’t dare look back at her to confirm that. Then her hands came up and cupped his face and she tilted his head back toward her.

And then she kissed him.

Chat sputtered in shock, but it was over before he had fully registered it was happening. Ladybug was blushing, but she leaned into him again and tucked her head beneath his chin. This time, she wrapped both her arms around him in a hug. Still stunned, Chat automatically hugged her back.

“You might be much closer to getting that than you think, _Chaton_,” she whispered in his ear.

“I - oh?” Chat said, blinking rapidly.

Ladybug nuzzled him. “Mhm.”

“O-okay then,” Chat said, still shocked and confused but also elated. Who needed the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous when it turned out wishes could come true on their own?


	25. Mythology

“Alright, Alya. It’s your turn,” Madame Bustier said, gesturing to the front of the room.

Alya jumped to her feet and sauntered up to the front of the room, laptop tucked underneath her arm. She quickly hooked it up to the screen, then turned to smile at the class. Marinette smiled back automatically - until Lila stood up and joined Alya, at which point Marinette realized that Alya hadn’t been smiling at the class but at _one person_ in particular.

Right. Of course. Alya wouldn’t be smiling at _her_. She hadn’t even asked for Marinette’s help with her project. Marinette didn’t even know for sure what Alya had chosen for her presentation. Their assignment was to get up for twenty minutes and talk about anything, and she could make an educated guess as to what Alya had picked, but -

“I did my presentation on the mythology of the Ladybug miraculous,” Alya announced.

Marinette choked on her own saliva and spent several seconds coughing into her fist. Everyone looked at her. From the front of the room, Lila sighed loudly and crossed her arms. 

“Marinette, are you okay?” Madame Bustier asked, looking slightly alarmed.

Flushed with embarrassment, rather than speak, Marinette gave her teacher a thumbs up and then sunk low into her seat. 

“Please continue, Alya,” Madame Bustier said.

“Right, well… It took me a really long time to track other Miraculous users throughout history, but it turns out that they’ve always walked among us,” Alya said, linking her arms together. “I started off by trying to figure out the most common characteristics of the Ladybug miraculous so that I would know what to look for. Luckily, Lila was able to help me there.” She beamed at Lila.

Lila smiled smugly back. “That’s right. As you all know, Ladybug and I are _best friends_.”

Marinette ground her teeth together.

“She’s told me loads of stuff,” Lila went on. “And I was, of course, happy to help Alya out by telling her whatever she wanted to know. She’s_ my_ friend.” She smirked in Marinette’s direction.

“We’re going to start out with a mock interview so that Lila can put everyone on the same page, and then I’ll move on to presenting my research,” Alya told the class, squeezing Lila’s arm. They exchanged excited smiles.

Marinette didn’t think she could sit through this for twenty minutes. Never had she wished for an akuma to attack so much. It hurt _so much_ seeing Lila and Alya together, smiling and giggling, occasionally exchanging private jokes, Lila clearly basking in the attention of the class.

She tried her best to sit in stoic silence for the next couple of minutes, but hearing Lila go on and on about details that were, frankly, blatantly wrong was _maddening_. And the worst part was that everyone in class, including Alya, was sitting there drinking it with stupid smiles on their faces. Not a single one of them questioned why Ladybug would be telling Lila all this stuff in the first place.

Why couldn’t anyone see through her? _Why_? Why did Marinette have to sit here and watch her former best friend be willingly taken in by that bitch? Why did she have to sit here and watch Adrien swallow everything Lila said? Why did_ she_ have to put up with this? Why? _WHY_?

The light presence on her shoulder wasn’t even something that Marinette noticed at first… but she sure as hell couldn’t ignore the hot sensation that suddenly ran through her body. Her frustration, her anger, her hurt, all of her feelings were magnified by a hundred until it felt like she was being swallowed up, drowning in the dark.

“_Hello, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng. My name is Hawmoth._”


	26. Social Media

The video spread across social media like wildfire. Within a matter of hours, it was everywhere that Ladybug looked. It had even, eventually, been posted to the Ladyblog, though she thought it had probably caused Alya some consternation to do it.

“_Hello, Parisians! It’s your friendly neighborhood Chat Noir here. I hope you’re all doing well because we need to talk._”

“What was he thinking?” she whispered fretfully, pacing back and forth. She checked the time on her yo-yo for the umpteenth time and sighed in frustration. Still twenty minutes to go until Chat was due.

She stopped walking and stared out at the Parisian skyline, chewing her lower lip anxiously. Tikki had told her that everything would be okay, and that she needed to just talk to Chat, but Ladybug felt like she was gonna explode.

“_The thing is, I’ve been hearing about this person who had been going around saying she and Ladybug are best friends. I saw the interview on the Ladyblog. I’m going to lay it all on the line and say that’s bullshit. It’s_ not _true. _I’m _Ladybug’s best friend, thank you very much._”

The video. Oh god, that video. Ladybug wanted to clutch at her pigtails when she thought about it. As gratifying as it was to see, she was also fully expecting Lila to be akumatized at any moment. She considered it a miracle that hadn’t happened yet.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a shadow approaching and turned just in time to see Chat land on the rooftop. He was unusually early, but then he’d probably known that she would be too.

They stared at each other for a long moment.

“_Lila Rossi, if you’re listening to this, I want you to know what a dangerous position you put yourself in by lying about your friendship with Ladybug. Hawkmoth could’ve made you, your family or your friends a target at any moment._”

“I’m not going to say I’m sorry,” Chat said finally, breaking the silence. “What I said - it needed to be said.”

“We’re superheroes, Chat. We’re supposed to be above that kind of thing,” Ladybug said. She was shamefully aware of how hypocritical that was, considering how she’d blown up at Lila for trying to get Adrien’s attention way back when Lila first started. But still.

“I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true,” Chat said, tipping his chin up stubbornly.

“_Furthermore, your selfish and irresponsible actions could’ve put both me and Ladybug at risk. If Hawkmoth had come after you, we would’ve had to protect you. He could’ve easily led us both into a trap._”

Ladybug sighed, because he was right and they both knew it. “I just don’t get _why_,” she said at last. “Why now? Her lie about us being friends sucked, but it wasn’t that big of a deal.”

Chat crossed his arms over his chest. He was quiet for a moment, as though weighing his words, before he said, “Lila Rossi has hurt one of my friends repeatedly. A classmate of mine. She’s a really good person. She’s our class president and she always looks out for other people… even me, though she doesn’t seem to like me much.”

He turned away. “I see the lies Lila makes up on a daily basis. Sometimes they’re so mean towards Marinette I can’t stand it. Despite that, I can’t do anything about it a civilian. I’m… I’m too much of a coward.”

Ladybug just stared at him in shock.

“_I don’t know what you hoped to gain by doing this, Lila. Maybe you lied just to get attention so that people would think you were special and cool. Maybe you thought that no one would ever look into such an outlandish claim, or even just ask me or Ladybug about it._”

“But I can’t sit quietly and do nothing anymore,” Chat said softly. “I - I know I should have talked to you first. It was selfish to post that video as Chat. I get that. I was protecting myself. But…” He sighed through his nose. “I also thought a video with Chat Noir would get more traction than a video with just me.”

“Chat…” Ladybug whispered.

He turned back, looking up at her. “And I _did_ want to protect you too, LB. No matter what you say, she could’ve put you in real danger again. I won’t stand for that. I won’t let her hurt two of the most important people in my life anymore.”

“_But the truth is that your lies _are _hurting people and I won’t let that happen anymore. Ladybug and I work too hard to protect this city as it is without people making our jobs harder._”

Ladybug stood there, speechless. Her brain was spinning in circles. Chat’s classmate. One who had been hurt by Lila repeatedly. His class president. Marinette.

There was only one blond boy in Marinette’s class that she was uncomfortable around. One boy who could _possibly_ think she didn’t like him, and wow had she ever messed up if that was really what he thought.

Chat grew uncertain the longer she was quiet. Tentatively, ears flattening against his head, he said, “Ladybug? Are you mad?”

“_So to everyone out there listening, I reiterate that Lila Rossi is no friend of mine, nor of Ladybug’s. I would like to respecfully ask that Alya Césaire remove that video she posted of Lila’s interview. The Ladyblog deserves better and Alya, I hope you’ll learn to verify your sources in the future._”

“Mad…” Ladybug trailed off and shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. “Oh, Adrien, of course I’m not mad!”

Chat froze, his eyes widening. “W-what?!”

Ladybug looked him straight in the eyes and whispered, “Tikki, spots off.”

“_Thanks for watching and good-night, Paris! Stay paw-some!_”


	27. Detective

“It’s just so frustrating!” Alya wailed. “I want to _know_.”

“Don’t worry, Alya. I know a _great_ detective. He’s the best at what he does. He’ll figure out who Ladybug and Chat Noir are.”

Marinette hadn’t been paying much attention to Lila or Alya up until that point, too absorbed by the fact that Adrien was sitting right beside her. But that statement made her head snap up even as Adrien tensed beside her.

“Really? Oh Lila, that would be amazing,” Alya gushed. “Can the Ladyblog have the exclusive? Please?”

“Of course,” Lila said with a smile.

“You shouldn’t be doing that,” Marinette said before she could stop herself. She had no idea if this was another one of Lila’s lies. It probably was. But just in case it wasn’t…

Alya looked up, expression already registering disappointment. “Seriously, Marinette?”

Her sharp tone stung, and Marinette bit her lip. She knew what Alya was thinking. The whole class knew that Adrien liked Ladybug, and Alya probably thought that Marinette was jealous because she didn’t want Adrien to know who Ladybug was.

Normally the implications of all that would’ve been enough to make Marinette shrink into herself and stay quiet. But this was too much. She clenched her fist under the desk, then took a deep breath and surged to her feet.

“Seriously,” Marinette said, staring them both down. “Ladybug and Chat Noir have done _everything_ for this city. The _only_ thing they have asked for in return is privacy. In spite of that, you’ve made a game out of trying to figure out who they are. But have you ever stopped to think about the ramifications of their identities becoming public?”

Alya opened her mouth and then closed it, clearly surprised.

Lila, on the other hand, huffed loudly. “People deserve to know who they are.”

“Why?” Marinette challenged. “_Why_ do people deserve to know?”

“Because - because it’s not right for two people to have that kind of power!” Lila said.

Marinette narrowed her eyes. “All they’ve ever done is protect people, sometimes sacrificing themselves to do it. I’d say that power is in good hands.” She snapped her gaze to Alya. “And Alya, seriously. You of _all_ people should understand what having a secret identity means.”

For a moment Alya looked stricken, and Marinette knew she was thinking of being Rena Rouge.

“You told me how much you love superhero movies,” Marinette went on, before Alya could wonder how Marinette knew. “Enemies in those movies _always_ use a superhero’s family and friends against them! Imagine if _you_ were Ladybug. How would you feel if a detective figured out who you were, told the whole world, and Hawkmoth went after your sisters?”

“That… that wouldn’t happen,” Alya said uncertainly.

“It damn well could and you know it. There’s a _reason_ Ladybug and Chat Noir haven’t shared their identities with anyone. The last thing they need is to worry about a detective chasing after them when they already have so much to deal with. Both of you should respect their privacy, especially after everything they’ve done for you,” Marinette concluded, crossing her arms.

Lila was scowling fiercely. “Maybe Ladybug and Chat Noir should’ve thought of that before they became heroes.”

That response made Marinette really pissed, and she was opening her mouth to let Lila have it - that spoiled, _selfish_ brat, how _dare_ she after all the trouble she’d given them?! - when Alya spoke up.

“No, Lila, Marinette is right,” Alya said. “It was a great idea, but I don’t think you should do it anymore.”

To say that Lila was furious was an understatement, but she was caught now; she couldn’t push forward without looking like the bitch she was. Her mouth pursed into a thin, angry line and she huffed again, spinning back around to face the front. She folded her arms over her chest and sulked.

Marinette exhaled and sat down, feeling jittery with adrenaline. She’d _never_ spoken so harshly to Alya before, but maybe that was the wake-up call Alya had needed to understand that actions like de-masking Ladybug and Chat Noir had consequences. She sure hoped so.

“That was great,” Adrien said softly, leaning into her a bit.

“R-Really?” Marinette stuttered.

Adrien nodded. “I never would’ve had the courage to say something like that. You’re really awesome, Marinette.”

Marinette flushed to the roots of her hair, but smiled shyly back. “Thanks, Adrien. I just wish Alya would _think_ before she does stuff. I guess it’s the excitement of figuring things out. She loves being be first one to put stuff on the Ladyblog, and being able to post the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir would be a huge scoop. It’s just -”

“It’s not right,” Adrien said quietly. “Ladybug and Chat Noir… they can’t just think about themselves.” He seemed oddly pensive.

Marinette nodded. “Exactly. And also… well, it felt kinda good to yell at Lila for once.”

He grinned. “Did you see her face when Alya admitted you were right? She looked like she swallowed a lemon,” he whispered. They exchanged a look, and then Adrien sucked his cheeks in, bulged his eyes and twisted his lips. Marinette cracked up first, but he quickly gave in and laughed too.


	28. Invisible

“Ladybug?” Chat called out uncertainly. He could hear the beeping of her miraculous, so he knew she was close - but he couldn’t _see_ her.

He couldn’t see himself either.

Today’s akuma was not unlike Sabrina, except that, instead of being invisible, this akuma had the power to make _other_ people invisible. Both he and Ladybug had been hit, which was throwing them off. Turned out that it was actually incredibly hard to fight something when you were invisible, but the akuma could still see you.

“I’m here,” Ladybug said.

“Where’s here?” Chat asked.

“Err… I’m standing beside the umbrella,” she clarified. “I have my thumb on the button.”

Chat turned and then - carefully! They’d already run into each other several times, much to the akuma’s amusement - walked over to the downed patio umbrella laying on the pavement. He looked at it and then reached out to touch the button. His hand impacted another hand instead.

“Chat?” Ladybug said nervously.

“It’s me,” he said, unaccountably grateful to have found her. He intertwined their fingers and she let it happen, which strongly suggested she was as unnerved as he felt.

“I’m gonna transform back soon,” Ladybug said, tightening her grip.

Chat thought for a moment. So was he. They’d used Cataclysm and Lucky Charm at the same time, hoping to end the fight right after they were hit. It hadn’t worked. Now the akuma was rampaging around Paris.

“We can’t see each other,” he pointed out. “So… does it matter…?”

“Of course it matters!” Ladybug said indignantly.

“I’m just saying. How are we going to find each other after we transform back?”

Ladybug hesitated. She was practically strangling his hand at this point. He was thankful for the suit, because otherwise he was pretty sure she would’ve broken bones from the strength of her grip. He waited.

“We could… call each other…” she said meekly. “And meet up…?”

His miraculous beeped again, mere seconds before hers did. He couldn’t see it but he thought that was the fourth beep. No time to run, and no time to pry his hand loose from his lady - not that he really wanted to. Chat looked around, but the street was otherwise empty and there were really no places to hide.

He was positive that there were no other invisible civilians around, because everyone had scattered when the akuma came by. Chat had rescued a few of the stragglers himself. Not that it really mattered since they are both invisible!

“I think we’ll be okay. We can stand back to back if you want,” Chat said finally. “But I can’t even see your hand to kiss it, so…”

Ladybug sighed. “Yeah, okay.”

With one final beep, Chat immediately knew they’d made a mistake.

Red light swirled around Ladybug’s suddenly visible ankles as the akuma’s invisibility effect wore off with her detransformation. The light zipped up her body too fast for Chat to close his eyes, culminating in Marinette’s shocked face as an exhausted Tikki formed beside her. Plagg appeared beside Adrien a beat later.

She stared at him.

He stared at her.

Then they both screamed.

“What?! What?!” a familiar voice shouted.

Footsteps sounded nearby, and Tikki and Plagg both dove for cover right before Alya and Nino burst onto the street. Alya had her phone out and was looking around frantically for either the akuma or Ladybug and Chat Noir, so Nino spotted them first. His jaw dropped.

“Did the akuma come by? What?!” Alya bellowed again, then stopped. She stared at their friends.

“Why are they holding hands and screaming at each other?” Nino asked cautiously.

“I have no idea,” Alya said, thoroughly bewildered. “The akuma turns people invisible. It doesn’t make them do… _that_.”

Nino studied their screaming friends for a moment longer, then suddenly smiled. “Maybe they transformed with Trixx too.”

“_Shut up_,” Alya hissed, blushing. “That was _one time_, okay?! And now I regret telling you that foxes scream at their mates!”

“It was very cute once I understood why,” Nino said, snickering. “Should, ah. Should we interrupt them?”

Alya looked at Adrien and Marinette and slowly shook her head. “They’re clearly having a moment. Let’s not. I want to find the akuma anyway. Watching Ladybug and Chat Noir fight it while they’re invisible is too cool.”

Someone in the distance, barely audible over Adrien and Marinette, shrieked something about an akuma.

And so Nino and Alya walked away (or, in Nino’s case, was dragged away by an overly enthusiastic girlfriend), unknowingly leaving behind Paris’s favorite superheroes… still screaming.


	29. Fight Club

“They should totally form a miraculous fight club!”

Adrien slowed as he entered the classroom, blinking as Kim’s enthusiastic shout registered.

“Oh please. They’re never going to do that,” Alya said. “Ladybug and Chat have way more important things to - _Adrien_!” She surged to her feet.

“Uh - hi?” Adrien said warily, fighting the urge to back away as Alya scrambled over to him and grabbed his arm.

“You’ll side with me, right?” she demanded, looking up at him with shining eyes.

“Uh,” Adrien said again, looking around for an an explanation. He’d learned pretty early on that just saying a blanket ‘yes’ to Alya was dangerous.

Luckily, Nino took pity on him and said, “They’re fighting over who would win in a fair fight, Ladybug or Chat Noir.”

“Oh. That’s easy. Ladybug, obviously,” Adrien said.

“What?!” Marinette demanded. “That is _so_ not true!”

He looked over at her, surprised by her vehemence. She was behind her desk, hands planted firmly on her hips, staring at him like she was daring him to continue arguing. It was the most passionate he’d ever seen Marinette.

“Chat would win,” Marinette continued. “He outclasses Ladybug in hand-to-hand combat. Furthermore, his Catacylsm can destroy _anything_. All he’d have to do is activate it and touch her and it would be game over.”

Adrien felt sick at the idea of Cataclysming his lady, but concealed it as best he could by pasting on a fake smile. He said, “But Ladybug has her yo-yo and can literally do circles around him. She can wrap him up before he even gets close.”

“Exactly,” Alya said, nodding. “Plus, Ladybug has her Lucky Charm. She can use that and have the perfect object to beat Chat falling into her hands.”

Marinette shook her head. “Chat’s stronger than Ladybug,” she pointed out. Alix, Kim and Ivan echoed her sentiment, which was both surprising and touching for Adrien to hear. He hadn’t expected _anyone_ to think Chat would win. He wasn’t really sure what to do with the unexpected show of support.

“But Ladybug has always won in the past,” Adrien said. “Every time she and Chat have fought against each other -”

“That doesn’t count. Chat was under an akuma’s control. He wasn’t himself,” Marinette interrupted. “He couldn’t use his knowledge of Ladybug against her the way she could use her knowledge of him against him.”

Adrien opened his mouth, but paused before he spoke. He’d never really thought it that way.

“They’ve never had a _fair_ fight,” Marinette went on passionately, “Hell, last time an akuma tried to engineer just that, Chat sacrificed himself so he _wouldn’t_ have to fight against Ladybug because she _had_ to win to purify the akuma! What does that say?!”

“What?” Adrien said, shocked.

“What?” Marinette said, confused.

“What?!” Alya exclaimed. “When did _that_ happen?”

Marinette’s face froze in a combination of panic and horror as reality dawned on her and she realized what she’d said in her moment of passion. She looked around like she was hoping someone would save her, but all she saw were curious faces. She swallowed hard and smiled shakily.

“U-um… it was during the time Max got akumatized again,” she said meekly, shooting an apologetic glance at Max. He waved her off.

Alya squinted suspiciously. “How do you know that? No one knows what happened but Ladybug and Chat!”

“Chat told me,” Marinette said quickly. “He, uh, stopped to talk one night when I was out on my balcony. He was tired and needed a rest and we got to talking and he told me.” She giggled shrilly.

_No, I didn’t_, Adrien thought dazedly.

“Why didn’t you tell me?! You know I’ve been dying to find out what happened during that fight! Tell me everything!” Alya released Adrien’s arm and scrambled back to Marinette’s side, clutching at her.

Adrien just kept blankly staring as Alya started peppering Marinette with questions. No one else knew what had happened during that fight. It was possible Ladybug could’ve told Marinette, but Marinette had specifically said it was _Chat_. Why would she do that?

There was only one explanation, as crazy and far-fetched as it seemed, and Adrien’s poor, frozen brain had no idea what to do about the fact that Marinette was Ladybug.


	30. Time Travel

Paris in 2009 wasn’t as different as Adrien might have expected. He looked around curiously as he walked along, but no one was paying much attention to him; it was kind of nice being able to walk down a public street without worrying about being mobbed.

Today’s akuma had the ability to send people to different times. Ladybug and Chat had managed to trap it, but, just as Chat was going for the akumatized object, the akuma had activated its powers and taken them ten years into the past. Then it had promptly dumped both superheroes on their butts and taken off.

Ladybug had told him to hide while he fed Plagg and then meet up with her afterwards. And Adrien _had_ hidden… at first. Until curiosity and a gnawing need got the better of him.

“You’re sure this is a good plan?” Plagg asked between bites of Camembert.

“Abso-” Adrien stopped mid-word as he turned a corner and came face to face with his classmate.

Marinette’s eyes were huge in her paling face. They stared at each other for several moments as the obvious sank in. All Adrien could think, shocked, was that apparently Ladybug hadn’t heeded her own advice.

“A-Adrien?” Marinette squeaked out finally. With more context behind it, he quickly recognized Ladybug’s ‘I’m two seconds away from having a meltdown’ face and snapped out of his own shocked state.

They could freak out later. He only had a limited amount of time to make this happen.

“I have somewhere I need to go before we beat the akuma. Come with me?” he asked, sticking a hand out.

Marinette’s mouth snapped shut and she cocked her head. Curiosity and panic vied for control in her eyes before she sighed and her shoulders slumped. She wordlessly took his hand.

Adrien walked on, this time leading his partner - his _partner_! - towards his house. Marinette clearly realized where they were going after the first couple of minutes, but graciously remained quiet and didn’t ask questions.

And then, as they drew near, Adrien stopped again and Marinette gasped softly.

“Is that…” she trailed off and he nodded.

“We always played outside together around 3pm every day,” Adrien said softly. He was utterly captivated by the sight of Émilie Agreste showing her six-year-old son the flowers in the garden. It wasn’t technically playing; she often quizzed him on the names of the plants they found later on. But it had been _so_ much fun. He remembered loving her undivided attention.

“Oh,” Marinette whispered. “Adrien… I’m sorry.”

He squeezed her hand in lieu of a response, leaning against the fence to drink in everything about his mother. He’d almost forgotten the sound of her laugh. The way her eyes crinkled a little at the corners when she smiled. How bright and warm her eyes could be.

She didn’t notice them, which was probably a good thing. Security would’ve chased them away, no doubt, and he wasn’t nearly ready to go. Adrien could’ve stood there for hours and just watched and remembered how life was when he was loved.

But then a small hand tugged at his, and Marinette said, in a surprisingly shaky voice, “Did your mother always wear that broach?”

Adrien blinked at that, finally looking away from Émilie’s face to examine her clothing. She was wearing a green sundress, which was one of her favorites - she never wore jeans. Affixed to her dress by the right strap was a grey broach.

He blinked again.

A _familiar_ grey broach, in the shape of a peacock’s span of feathers.

“No,” he said numbly, brain flashing back to the page Master Fu had shown him. Fu had wanted Ladybug and Chat Not to know what both the Peacock and Butterfly miraculous looked like in their deactivated forms so that they could recognize them.

“Adrien, I think we should go,” Marinette said, voice still high-pitched.

He didn’t answer and he couldn’t bring himself to move. His mother was wearing the Peacock miraculous. It had to be a mistake - or a coincidence. Surely it was just a piece of random jewelry she liked.

Yet… now that he thought about it, he remembered that broach. Aside from her wedding ring, it was the only piece of jewelry Émilie had almost never taken off. She was fiercely protective of it, going so far as to ground him for two weeks after she caught him playing with it one morning.

He felt sick.

“Adrien,” Marinette said again, and then more sharply, “_Chaton_. Come _on_.”

He finally let her tug him away. Émilie and his younger self never even looked up.


	31. Dealer’s Choice

College AU where Adrien never went to public school so he and Marinette don’t know each other, and Ladybug and Chat are dating.

* * *

Marinette swiped a hand over her forehead and sighed wearily. Sometimes she wondered why she’d even bothered finding another job when she’d just ended up at a coffee shop. She could sweep up and wipe tables at her parent’s bakery, and she wouldn’t have the walk home through the rain afterwards. Her parents had insisted this would be good for her. She wasn’t convinced.

“Excuse me, we’re closed,” she called out to the lone straggler, seated in the corner booth closest to the windows. They’d closed five minutes ago, in fact. Her co-workers had all left, leaving Marinette behind to finish and lock up.

The man didn’t look up, and Marinette sighed. Her feet ached. She wanted to sit down and relax. Actually, she wanted to sit down and have Chat give her a foot rub. Yeah, that sounded _amazing_. So amazing she yanked her phone out and sent him a surreptitious message as she approached the table.

Ironically it wasn’t Marinette’s approach that got the man’s attention, but the beeping of his cell phone. Not even looking up at her, he took out his phone and typed something. Marinette’s phone vibrated in her pocket as she paused beside him, and she thought - huh, that’s weird.

“Excuse me,” she said again. “We’re closed.”

“Oh! I’m terribly sorry,” the man said. “I didn’t realize - I got so caught up in my book.” He hastily started gathering his things together.

She glanced idly at the book. _Dealer’s Choice_, the title said, with a picture of a handful of cards. Nothing to indicate what the book was about, and it interested her only because it was the book that Chat was reading. He’d spent most of last night gushing about it. Curious, she picked it up and flipped it open.

“I’ll just get out of your - oh.”

Marinette looked up at the soft inhale.

Chat Noir was sitting in front of her.

His eyes were the size of the scones the coffeeshop sold, the ones that weren’t quite as good as Marinette’s papa’s, and his jaw was hanging open in a decidedly unattractive way, but it was definitely him. She’d know those green eyes anywhere. Marinette opened her mouth and then closed it, speechless.

Chat had always told her that they would recognize each other if they ever passed each other on the street, but she hadn’t really _believed_ him until now.

“My Lady?” he said weakly. “Is that -” He stopped suddenly, as though realizing that he could be wrong.

She had a split second decision to make: a moment wherein she could’ve lied and said she had no idea what she was talking about, and he would probably believe her. That was probably what Tikki would’ve wanted her to do. But no sooner had the thought crossed her mind than Marinette disregarded it.

This was her _partner_. The man she wanted to marry. If they’d found each other outside the mask through sheer coincidence, she wasn’t going to turn fate down.

“Hi Kitty,” she whispered, letting herself sway closer. She set the book down and reached for him, running her hands through his hair and scratching where his cat ears would’ve been.

“I can’t believe it,” he said, starting to smile. “I _finally _found you.”

“I can’t believe it either,” Marinette replied. “Of all the coffeeshops you could’ve come into, it _would_ be the one I work in.”

“I just wanted to get out of the rain,” he admitted.

Marinette smiled, the reality of the situation catching up with her. She’d found him. She’d found her kitty! After all those lonely nights she’d spent wishing they could be together, knowing that they couldn’t because of their duties… he was _here_. She wanted to laugh with joy. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to take him home and never let him leave.

“Of course you did, my poor _minou_,” she murmured. “Well, I won’t kick you out. You can hang around while I clean up.”

“You’re too kind to me, Bugaboo,” he said.

“Marinette,” she told him, savoring the thrill of finally telling him her name.

He grinned. “Adrien.”

“Adrien,” she repeated, tasting the word. Then she squinted at him, realizing he looked familiar in more than one way. “Hang on… Adrien _Agreste_?”

“Guilty,” Adrien said, shrugging.

Well, that explained his atrocious relationship with his father. Marinette frowned fiercely. “Wanna have a sleepover?”

“Is that offer just because you want that foot rub?” he asked, eyes twinkling.

Marinette shrugged, all innocence. “Well, if you’re offering…”

He laughed and got up. “Let me help you clean up, and then we’ll talk about the foot rub. I think I could swing it in exchange for getting to sleep in your bed… no masks, this time.” He gave her a sly smile and she flushed; usually, to have sex, they’d use a hotel room and fake masks she’d made herself.

That was no longer necessary, she realized, and it gave her a burst of confidence to look him in the eye and say: “You can stay forever if you want.”

Adrien, as it turned out, wanted that _very_ much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this ends AU Yeah August. I can’t believe I got through all five months! Thank you so much for all the comments, kudos and support.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com).


End file.
